Institute of Diplomatic Practice inaugurates Governing Board

The immediate past President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has been appointed as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Institute of Diplomatic Practice and Development Policies (I-2DP).

Mr. James Victor Gbeho, who is also the former Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations and one-time Minister of Foreign Affairs, was nominated chair at the inaugural meeting of the six-member Board in Accra.

The veteran diplomat will be expected to bring his vast knowledge to the activities of I-2DP towards the realisation of its goals and objectives.

Other members of the Board are Dr (Mrs) Mary Chinery-Hesse, former Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organisation and current Interim Chairperson of the AU Panel of the Wise; Dr Lawrence Victor Essien, Professor of Law, Fordham University, New York and Board Member of the National Council of Ghanaian Associations in New York; Francis A. Tsegah, former Ghana’s Ambassador to Spain and current Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Accra; Mrs Ama Kumi Thomas: Senior Attorney in Los Angeles, US, who doubles as Secretary to the Board; and Nana Bema Kumi, Executive Director of I-2DP, also a former Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.

The Institute, a private sector initiative, serves as a centre for organising short-term training programmes for African Diplomats and other Government Officials who represent their countries abroad to negotiate for global public goods and standards setting in various sectors including Agriculture, Labour and Social Welfare, Environmental Protection, Energy, Public Finance, Trade and Communications.

It also offers tailor-made strategic training programmes for functionaries of sub-regional organisations such as ECOWAS, as well as regional organisations in Africa such as the African Union.

The Institute offers intellectual input into international policy processes by participating in the preparation of documents for major Global Diplomatic Conferences; negotiating and drafting International Political, Legal, and other instruments related to governance; organising Public Lectures on topical National and International subjects of relevance to the development of Africa and undertaking Research Work related to development policies in Africa, especially in the areas of natural resource management and environmental sustainability, with a view to eliminate poverty and accelerating the integration of gender and social dimensions into such policies.**