UNITAR Office in New York Debuts Writing and Public Speaking Skills Course with UAE Mission
5 October 2016, New York, New York, USA – Mr. Marco A. Suazo, Director of UNITAR’s New York Office, gave the opening remarks for a new series of training courses in partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a brief introductory session held at the Permanent Mission of the UAE to the United Nations. The series is entitled, “Refining Communication Skills in a Context of Global Diplomacy: Writing Intensive Training Course in Classic Arabic and English, with a Special Component on Public Speaking, Oral Presentation and Debate in Classic Arabic.” The series will be split into two components: an Arabic segment focused on skills in Classic Arabic, and an English segment focused on writing.
Dr. Colleen Thouez and by Dr. Yassin El-Ayouty will instruct the courses and both delivered opening addresses to the attending delegates. Dr. Thouez, the former director of the UNITAR New York Office and Senior Advisor to UNITAR currently, will teach the English segments of the series. Dr. El-Ayouty, currently of Fordham University and a long-time veteran of the United Nations System, will be the professor for the courses on Classic Arabic skills.
The courses are being held at the request of the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations. In the context of global diplomacy, the main objectives of this intensive training course are to: (1) enhance the performance of the writing abilities for specific deliverables [see below] to be drafted by representatives assigned to the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates, and in connection to this, (2) strengthen public speaking skills, with a focus on Classical Arabic.
The first official session of the course will take place Thursday, 13 October. The courses will be delivered in two phases. First, a primer set of courses will be held from 11 October until 10 November. This phase will be followed by more specialized clinics for smaller groups of participants as needed, and the series will run for a total of five weeks with three classes per week in an alternative mode.
| Sessions |
Public Speaking (in Arabic) Prof. Yassin El-Ayouty |
Drafting Reports (in English) Prof. Colleen Thouez |
Drafting Reports (in Arabic) Prof. Yassin El-Ayouty |
| 1 | Tuesday 11 October | Wednesday 12 October (this session will be led by Prof. Yassin El-Ayouty) | Thursday 13 October (this session will be led by Prof. Colleen Thouez) |
| 2 | Tuesday 18 October | Wednesday 19 October | Thursday 20 October |
| 3 | Tuesday 25 October | Wednesday 25 October | Thursday 26 October |
| 4 | Tuesday 1 November | Wednesday 2 November | Thursday 3 November |
| 5 | Tuesday 8 November | Wednesday 9 November | Thursday 10 November |
Photo Credits: UN Photo (Cover Photo), UNITAR