Foreign Service Academy Holds First Open Day
The Sierra Leone Foreign Service Academy has held its first Open Day since is Commissioning in 2023. The short event to showcase what the Foreign Service Academy offers to the public, especially those in foreign service, diplomatic engagements and professional services, was held Tuesday, December 9 at the Academy’s state-of-the-art auditorium.
Academics, students, lectures, diplomats, and senior officers from other ministries departments and agencies were among the distinguished guests who attended the ceremony. “For the past two years, we have been preparing, FSA’s Executive Director, Ambassador Soulay Daramy said in an interview with journalists, “Now we are opening to the public to showcase what the FSA has to offer”, he said.
These people are trained just like you train military officers. You recruit them and train them just before you send them out. Similarly, so, in the foreign ministry, when people are recruited, you train them in the tenets of diplomacy and international affairs and strategic studies. This enhances their employability and their ability to be effective and efficient in all the things they do before they are out on mission”. He said the president has the mandate to appoint anybody as ambassador. But as ambassador it is your responsibility to go outside Sierra Leone, represent us by seeking and protecting the interest of Sierra Leone, work for the benefit of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans, everywhere, particularly so in your stations of accreditation. You cannot do any of those if you are untrained. We train you in the skills of diplomacy, the skills of negotiation, the skills of bargaining, the skills of convincing. Many serious countries have Foreign Service academies. Sierra Leone never had one. This is the first time. He said the staff have been doing their background studies, construction and reconstruction and adjustments to have capable people Firstly, to manage the academy, and secondly, to look for teachers, facilitators, lecturers, who would teach any of the required subjects, “Now we’ve found them all he said. “And we are ready to start formal official training of people of all categories come January of 2026”, he assured.
Nana Pratt, former Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, said the essence of diplomacy is to achieve global peace. But judging by what is happening around the world today, “We are in a very challenging circumstance”, she said. “Diplomacy is important, but the goal is peace, she emphasized, noting that the essence of all diplomatic overtures is to have a peaceful co-existence.
Amb Victoria Sulimani, Deputy Executive Director of the FSA, welcoming guests, said the academy had achieved a lot in just two years after commissioning in 2023 recalling that the academy had trained recently appointed ambassadors, military attaches, press, cultural and health attaches in addition to training staff of the Foreign Affairs ministry in basic diplomatic courses. She recounted that the academy recently successfully hosted a hundred-man delegation from their Liberian counterpart institution, the Gabriel L Dennis Foreign Service Institute.
In a flashback short video played for guests, the academy showed the commissioning of the academy in 2023 where President Julius Maada Bio was featured emphasizing the mandate of the academy among which was to train and upskill career diplomats that would match today’s challenges and demands of global diplomacy. Other speakers in the video, including former ministers and deputy foreign ministers congratulated the FSA administration for hard work and resilience. “President Bio had great hopes for the Foreign Service Academy to become the center of excellence that trains and produces highly competent professional, astute, and knowledgeable career diplomats, that will represent Sierra Leone and become the envy of the world”, Professor David Francis, said. “You will always have my unflinching support and I will always make available to the academy an extensive and high profile academic and international networks to support the growth and consolidation of the Foreign Service Academy as a diplomatic training center of excellence. “This academy will train, shape and produce quintessential foreign service career officers.
Dr Emmanuel Gaima who stepped in for the keynote speaker appealed to all present to make a determination to partner with the FSA to promote the ideals of the academy to train
