PERFORMING EFFECTIVELY
IN MULTILATERAL CONFERENCES AND DIPLOMACY

 

 

Modules

The training course is structured around six, one-week modules: Each module is equivalent to a six to eight-hour training session that can be taken in one sitting or stretched over a week (e.g. two hours per day).


1. Welcome to the World of Multilateral Conferences (purposes, functions, types and outcomes of conferences; different actors and their inter-relationships; power; rules of procedure; and conference dynamics, etc.).

2. The Formal and Informal Process of Conferences (step-by-step through a conference; formal procedures and processes; strategic and administrative matters; organization of work; general debate and committee work; rules of procedure; conference management, including presiding officers, the bureau and the secretariat; informal conference processes and context, etc.).

3. Interventions, Documents and Resolutions (types of conference documents; drafting interventions for general debate and committee work; drafting proposals; other conference texts; structure and elements of resolutions; process of adopting resolutions, etc.).

4. Negotiation and Decision-making (Process of producing texts, understanding negotiation as a tool for and process in multilateral conferences, negotiating texts; effective negotiation strategies and techniques; dealing with negotiation breakdowns; decision-making; etc.).

5. Chairing International Conferences (the making of a chairman; formal and procedural roles and responsibilities of the chair; denationalization; the chairman’s activities; chairing step-by-step through a conference; the substantive role of the chairman; resources and tools available to the chairman; challenges for the chairman; preparing to chair a multilateral conference; etc.).

6. Preparing for an International Conference (understanding the mandate of the conference; accessing and submitting documents; inter-agency coordination and consultation; international consultation; preparing for negotiation, including proposals; credentials; preparing the delegate brief; logistical arrangements; etc.).