People in the Pacific Island countries, who wish to pursue their career in diplomacy and international affairs, now have a chance to study at the University of the South Pacific.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Mr Solo Mara last night launched USP’s postgraduate programmes in diplomacy and international affairs.
Three new programmes that will be offered at USP by the Faculty of Business and Economics from 2011 are post-graduate certificate, post-graduate diploma and Masters in Diplomacy and International Affairs.
Mr Mara said this would be an advantage for USP member countries to form part of their training programme for their middle to senior level government officials.
“For here lies another advantage of USP as the provider of choice of these programmes, and that is the “network of alumni” available to graduates after they complete their studies,” Mr Mara said.
“USP’s School of Government, Development and International Affairs is therefore better placed than any other regional institute of higher learning to make delivery of this much needed service.”
Dean of the faculty, Mr Biman Prasad said the new programme would bring together people from politics and development studies.
“The school of government and international affairs is relatively a new school and it brings together people from politics, development studies and our governance program to ensure that we offer a holistic program in all those three areas,” said Mr Prasad.
He added the school would also offer a generic course in ethics and governance for 2011.