Italian embassy invites student to promote role of women in diplomacy

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Commemorating International Women's Day, which falls on March 8, the Embassy of Italy in Korea invited a senior at Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) to experience a day as an ambassador, giving her a chance to learn about diplomacy as well as the important agenda of the European country.

Kim Chae-won, who majors Italian Language and Culture and Diplomacy at BUFS, won an essay competition hosted by the embassy and was awarded with the opportunity to spend a day with Ambassador of Italy to Korea Federico Failla and his team at the embassy.

Failla said the “Ambassador for a Day” program aims to share the important agenda of the Italian government ― gender equality and climate change.

"This program has double objectives. The first is to offer young Korean students a possibility of seeing what an embassy does, because very often embassies remain 'mysterious' and people are not very clear about what an embassy does in a foreign country and we are offering a possibility of seeing what our daily job is," Failla told The Korea Times.

"The other thing is that Italy is very committed to gender equality. It is one of the main points of Italian foreign policy, together with the environment. So on the occasion of the International Women's Day, we wanted to do something concrete, trying to promote gender equality and the possibility for a young woman to have this kind of experience. We think that gender equality is the basis for each initiative and try to promote a better world."

Kim won the contest after presenting an essay presenting concrete ideas to pursue a greener strategy in the work environment.

“In my essay, I addressed the role of national policy, corporate responsibility, and the importance of individual practice,” Kim said.

Kim, clad in a new suit, started her day at the Italian Embassy in Seoul with a staff meeting on March 7. Kim said the meeting provided her with an idea of how the embassy operates.

"In the conference room, everyone sat around the ambassador for a staff meeting, and it was very impressive to see representatives and experts from each field gathered to brief political, science, technology, military, and cultural issues and discuss the daily schedules," she said.

Then she moved to High Street Italia in southern Seoul for a board meeting with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ITCCK). The ambassador and the ITCCK president Francesco Fussi along with other members discussed various plans, such as the upcoming Italian Design Day and the Italian Cuisine Week.

After a meeting with Frank Rijsberman, director of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), in the afternoon, Kim emphasized the importance of international cooperation on climate change.

"Climate change affects the lives of everyone around the world. It's not just someone or some nation's matter, but it's a matter affecting all of us. Therefore, we have to think about how to create a more sustainable future, and unite to tackle climate change as the top priority," she said.

Kim took part in a video conference with Elena Bonetti, Italy's Minister for Family and Equal Opportunities and Giuliana Del Papa, president of the Diplomatcia Women Association of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, later in the evening.

"Since a lot of efforts have been made in the past, Italian women's advancement into human rights, politics, and diplomacy has considerably improved compared to the past, but it is still difficult for women to enter high-level positions, diplomacy and politics, and the proportion of men in those fields is higher even today,” Kim said.

“I also learned that Italy is currently working hard to realize gender equality and women's empowerment in all areas of society by establishing the 2021-2026 National Strategy for Gender Equality.”

Wrapping up the day, Kim picked communication skills based on an excellent understanding of the culture and history of other countries as the most important trait of diplomats.

“The ambassador is the representative of the country whose primary duty is to maintain diplomatic relations with the receiving state. Furthermore, with communication skills, an ambassador must be able to discuss diplomatic issues to protect national interests,” Kim said.