Cosmopolitan Communication: Connecting Across Diplomats, Business Leaders and Civil Society

31 October 2018, Geneva, Switzerland - We live in a world that is increasingly technologically advanced, bringing people from all over the world closer together. More than ever before, we are given opportunities to interact with people of different backgrounds, whether it is through diplomacy, business, or in our personal lives.

Having been afforded these opportunities in this golden age of digitally-enhanced globalization, it is more important than ever that we learn to understand one another – not only in language, but also in terms of culture. Cultural sensitivity is of tantamount importance when we need to communicate with others in order to reach a common goal through cooperation and collaboration. It has been shown that individuals and organizations that develop their intercultural competences – and learn to listen to and understand each other – are much more effective in multilateral settings because they are able to avoid barriers and prejudices in negotiation and mediation processes.

The Division for Multilateral Diplomacy offers an e-learning course that teaches how to improve and heighten communication skills for diplomats, business leaders, and civil society in a cosmopolitan and professional setting. For more information on the course content, aims and methods, please visit the enrolment page.

“People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups,” wrote the late Kofi Annan. “We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not.  We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.”

Image: Performance by the New York-based group Cobu, whose motto, “Dance Like Drumming, Drum Like Dancing”, is inspired by the combined sounds of New York and traditional Japanese culture. Photo Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias