On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded a five-day orientation programme for
newly recruited Foreign Service Officers (FSOs), which was held at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown.
Each day, senior officials from the Ministry as well as national diplomats, among others,
delivered a series of presentations to enrich each FSO’s understanding of Guyana’s foreign
policy, the Ministry’s mission and responsibilities, diplomatic protocol, and etiquette, among
other topics.
Director of the Foreign Service Institute, Ambassador Ronald Austin, noted that “it was a very important exercise in that it was an opportunity for the officers to acquire knowledge of
diplomacy. Over the past week, new recruits to the Ministry gained a better understanding in
areas such as economic diplomacy, the culture of different nations, the changing international
environment and knowledge on how they should conduct themselves.”
Furthermore, according to one FSO, “The orientation programme gave us a chance to seek
clarity on questions we had since starting our jobs at the Ministry. When we return to work we can apply what we learned this week.”
