During an activity at St Nicholas College, Middle School, in Rabat, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, Ian Borg, together with the Maltese Ambassador for Estonia and Finland, Kenneth Vella, launched the book, ‘Diplomazija għat-Tfal’ (Diplomacy for Children).
During this activity, excerpts were read from this book, which contains a touch of history, geography, and other interesting facts about the diplomatic spectrum. The children were able to better understand how an embassy works, the role of the ambassador, what a diplomatic strategy is, what a consulate is, and much more.
While he was taking some questions from the children, Minister Ian Borg claimed that this book is one of the first of its kind, offering a look at the diplomatic world through the eyes of children. “Thanks to Ambassador Vella, for the first time, we are seeing that our children choose subjects that will form the basis of their studies in the coming years. We are showing them what the career of diplomacy has to offer,” he continued. says Dr Borg.
Minister Ian Borg reiterated how being a representative of your country abroad and even shaping your country’s foreign policy is an honour and he believes that more young people are needed to approach this career. It was said that with the democratic developments that we have seen in recent years, for example with the introduction of VOT16, young people are participating more in political developments, and as a government, he believes that our children have an opportunity to continue to shape the way forward for our country.
Ambassador Vella, who is also the author of this book, thanked Minister Borg and Permanent Secretary Christopher Cutajar, who immediately believed in this initiative and gave him the opportunity to weave together the two professions he practices, the educational one and the diplomatic one. He remarked on how this book also complements themes discussed in other subjects and encouraged the children not to give up on starting a career in diplomacy and to be of service to our country.
This book also includes information about the credentials letter, how diplomacy started in the world, the European Union, the United Nations, and other information of interest, such as which was the first Maltese embassy that opened abroad, Napoleon Bonaparte and his relationship with Palazzo Parisio located in Valletta, the foreign countries’ embassies in Malta, and the relationship between Malta and other EU countries.
Photos (MFET)
