MEDAC’s postgraduate students participate in a three day peace mediation training seminar led by the Centre for International Peace Operations
The Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) Berlin collaborated with the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta to train its postgraduate students who are young diplomats and civil society activists from the Mediterranean region and beyond in the basics of peace mediation in a three-day certificate programme. The multifaceted, tailor-made program included introductions to the basics of peace mediation, topped by a simulation exercise on the final day. Participants gained insights into the work of internationally renowned peace mediation practitioners and completed an in-depth module on Youth, Peace and Security.
ZIF staff Sebastian Dworack, Head of International Capacity Development Team and Perle Baillard, Head of Project „Strengthening of Mediation Capacities“, together with Natalia Mirimanova, Senior Mediation Expert, Dr. Edita Tahiri, former Chief negotiator for Kosovo at the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, and Anastasia Fusco, Adviser on Youth and Security , OSCE Secretariat engaged with the participants in an interactive, lively and engaging program. the fantastic cooperation.
The training was funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, a stakeholder in MEDAC since 2009, and supported by the German Chair for Peace Studies and Conflict Prevention at MEDAC.
A very enriching experience today for MEDAC staff and students who participated in the Symposium on Neutrality organised by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta on 9 March 2023.
The first panel consisting of Ministry high ranking officials from Malta, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland discussed perspectives of neutrality from the viewpoint of their respective countries. Mr Christopher Cutajar, Permanent Secretary at MFET provided a very clear and concise analysis of the relevance of Malta's neutrality in contemporary international relations. MEDAC Chairman Prof. Godfrey Pirotta participated in the second panel which discussed whether neutrality is a hindrance or an enabler to international peace and security, and whether neutral countries can be guaranteed their security in today's world of power politics.
The keynote address was delivered by Ambassador Thomas Greminger, former Secretary General of the OSCE & Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
Young Voices - 1st Anna Lindh Foundation New Leadership Seminar
15-18 January 2019
The Seminar was co-organised by MEDAC and the Anna Lindh Foundation (ALF) in collaboration with the World Leadership Alliance – Club de Madrid (CdM). This was the first of three seminars that will take place in Malta over the next 18 months. The participants were 20 outstanding emerging young leaders from the Euro-Med region, most of whom have founded NGOs and debating clubs in their own countries. The 5-day Seminars have the ambitious aim of preparing a new generation of dialogue leaders in the Mediterranean. The programme included interactive exercises on cultural intelligence, leadership skills training, training on how to communicate with the media and techniques of story-telling, as well as training on how to advocate effectively.
The participants themselves selected themes to focus on throughout the week – Education, Sustainable Development, Youth Participation and Migration and Mobility – and translated them into specific proposals they presented on the last day to a panel of senior leaders/policy makers. Special guest for the seminar, brought to Malta through CdM, was Former Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou. The line-up of trainers and speakers included outstanding international journalists from Europe and the Arab world, former politicians, academics, young policy-makers and NGO activists.
Transatlantic Relations and the Mediterranean Seminar organised by MEDAC
30 November 2018
A postgraduate MEDAC seminar on 'Transatlantic Relations and the Mediterranean' took place on Friday 30 November, bringing together experts from Europe, the United States and the Arab world in an effort to take stock of the current situation and look at ways forward. The seminar, organised by the German Chair for Peace Studies and Conflict Prevention at MEDAC and financed through funds of the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was opened by Amb. Walter Haßmann, German Ambassador to Malta together with the Director of the Academy, Prof. Stephen Calleya. Speakers included Mr. Josef Janning, Head of the European Council on Foreign Relations Berlin Office, Berlin; Dr Antonio Missiroli, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, Brussels and Dr. Julie Shedd, Associate Dean, The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution(SCAR), George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Working Group sessions allowed MEDAC's MA students to explore some of the issues in depth. The papers presentated at the seminar will be published in MEDAC's Med Agenda publication series.
'What Future for the Iran Nuclear Deal?' Seminar organised by MEDAC
5 December 2017
MEDAC organised and hosted a post-graduate seminar on the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) from 2015) in Malta on 5 December 2017. The seminar entitled ‘What Future for the Iran Nuclear Deal?’, organised with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs brought together eminent experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London), the Institute for Development and Peace (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Fondation our la recherché strategique (Paris) who delivered talks on issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, Iran, and the impact such developments are having on the EU and the Mediterranean region. MEDAC academic staff and Masters students participated throughout the Seminar.
MEDAC participated on the 17th European Diplomatic Programme
17-19 May 2017
On behalf of the Maltese EU Presidency, MEDAC prepared and delivered the participants' programme during the 17th European Diplomatic Programme – Module IV 'Emerging Challenges and Global Issues in Current Diplomacy', in Malta, on 17-19 May. The module included a training programme for diplomats on the themes of Conflict/Security, Sustainability and Economy and Trade. MEDAC was also responsible for the preparation of training programmes on EU decision making, EU networking and on crisis communications, delivered by MEDAC visiting lecturer Dr. Paul Meerts and his colleagues Mara van der Meer and Hans Wurzer.The European Diplomatic Programme is a training programme promoting the idea of common European diplomacy. It is a common project between the EU member states and EU institutions, and is part of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.
MEDAC at the MEDFORUM of the Anna Lindh Foundation
23-25 October 2016
MEDAC academic staff and students participated in the 3rd Mediterranean Forum of the Anna Lindh Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue which took place at the historic Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta between the 23 to 25 October 2016. The Forum has been acknowledged as a 'landmark event' in how intercultural dialogue can counteract conflict, extremism, unemployment, and the public discourse on migration and the refugee crisis. It has helped establish a solid coalition of actors for intercultural dialogue which is now enjoying far-reaching institutional backing, including that of the European Union.
International Academic OSCE Conference
10 November 2015
'Helsinki plus 40: The Mediterranean Chapter and the Future of Mediterranean Co-operation' hosted by MEDAC
The increasingly evident link between European and Mediterranean security, the need for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, to reaffirm the strategic value of its co-operation with its Mediterranean partners as well as Malta's recent proposal of an appointment of a Special Representative for the Mediterranean were the themes explored during a conference co-organised by MEDAC. The Hon. Dr George Vella, Minister of Foreign Affairs and OSCE Secretary General Ambassador Lamberto Zannier delivered the keynote speeches at the start of the academic international conference to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act and its Mediterranean Chapter. Co-organisers with MEDAC were the New Med Network, a network of academic experts on the OSCE and the Mediterranean. The conference focused on the theme Helsinki plus 40: The Mediterranean Chapter and the Future of Mediterranean Co-operation. The conference, opened by MEDAC Director Prof. Stephen Calleya, was attended by more than a 100 participants, including former and current policy-makers and diplomats, academic experts from OSCE countries and OSCE Mediterranean Partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Israel), as well as the local diplomatic corps and representatives of other international organisations.
Secretary General of the OSCE Lamberto Zannier noted that 'I cannot think of a more suitable place than Malta to hold a discussion about the long-standing engagement between the OSCE and the Mediterranean.' He emphasised that 'from deploying counter-radicalisation strategies to addressing the refugee crisis, Mediterranean-based issues cannot be relegated to a separate chapter of our work.'
On his part, Foreign Minister George Vella shared an historic account of Malta's role in the inclusion of the Mediterranean Chapter in the Helsinki Final Act and insisted that the threats and challenges we are faced with today point not only to the relevance but also the need, of having a deeper Mediterranean focus within the work of the OSCE. He advocated for the necessary tools to be adopted which would assist in addressing the current threats. 'A Special Representative with a focus on the Mediterranean would bring much added value to our common work,' he said.
In the Helsinki Final Act, signed in 1975, the then CSCE states declared that 'security in Europe is to be considered in the broader context of world security and is closely linked with security in the Mediterranean area as a whole, and that accordingly the process of improving security should not be confined to Europe but should extend to other parts of the world, and in particular to the Mediterranean area'. This analysis, strongly supported by Malta at the time, was revolutionary. In view of the developments and fluid situation in the Mediterranean region today, these words appear more relevant than ever.
The Conference was also addressed by the representatives of Switzerland, Serbia and Germany (the past, current and future OSCE Chairmanship) and Italy on behalf of the New Med Network. The panels focused on the historic dimension of the Mediterranean Chapter of the Helsinki Final Act, the Mediterranean Region in Transition, and the Current State of the OSCE's Mediterranean Dialogue and Prospects for Future Co-operation.
The Conference was supported by the Foreign Office of Germany, the Government of Switzerland, Italy's Institute of International Affairs and the Compagnia di San Paolo International Affairs Program and the OSCE.
Regional Conference of the Outreach of the OSCE Code of Conduct
Tunis, 1-3 September 2015
From 1-3 September, MEDAC in collaboration with the governments of Switzerland, Tunisia and Germany, as well as the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) organised a regional conference on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security. The conference took place in Tunis and was destined specifically for the countries of the southern Mediterranean region. Following upon the Malta conference of 2013, it marked the first ever conference on the OSCE Code of Conduct to be held in an OSCE Mediterranean Partner for Cooperation. Some 50 participants, mostly from southern Mediterranean countries, attended the Conference.
Participants included (high ranking) military and police officers, civil servants from the defence, interior and foreign ministries, as well as independent experts from think tanks and civil society organisations. Themes discussed at the conference included the OSCE Code of Conduct, in particular its potential role as an outreach instrument, as well as security sector reform and governance issues in the Mediterranean region. The conference was funded by the governments of Switzerland and Germany.
MEDAC Summer Training Course - Migration & Human Rights
9-17 June 2015
MEDAC's annual human rights summer school took place between 9 and 17 June 2015. The theme for this year's summer school was Migration and Human Rights. Topics explored and discussed during the summer school included key concept in human rights, international law and migration as well as case-studies on Malta, Jordan and Australia. As is customary with the MEDAC Human Rights Summer School the learning methodologies comprised a mix of formal lectures, seminars and interactive learning methods using art and drama. A visit to the Marsa Open Centre was also held as part of the summer school. At the Open Centre the participants were addressed by the staff and some of the residents.
Sixteen participants, from across the Mediterranean region and beyond, attended the Summer School. Countries represented included Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Albania, Kosovo. Germany, Italy, Spain , Romania, Australia, Hong Kong and Nigeria. Apart from the very diverse geographical spread the participants also had varied professional backgrounds with diplomats, civil society representatives and postgraduate students discussing human rights issues in an informal environment.