Diplomat Awards cement Zim’ s re-engagement

04 Feb, 2018 - 00:02 0 Views
Diplomat Awards cement Zim’ s re-engagement

The Sunday Mail

In line with the thrust of the new political dispensation, the 7th edition of the annual Diplomat of the Year Awards scheduled for 16 March this year, will run under the theme “Global engagement: building nations through dialogue”.

This was revealed by the founder of the Diplomat of the Year Awards, Mr Reginald Chapfunga, who explained the focus and significance of this year’s edition.

“We believe this year’s edition will be the biggest ever as it happens in a new political dispensation. We are also glad that the President has emphasised on engagement and re-engagement, a path we have been walking for the last six years on behalf of our beloved country.

“We have always created an engagement platform for the diplomatic community, heads of UN missions, international organisations, NGOs, business, media and Government. This year is no exception.

“We are calling for global engagement as a way of building our nations and understanding one another. There is progress and development in dialogue,” he said.

Mr Chapfunga said this has not been an easy task considering the polarisation that characterised the previous government’s relations with the international community.

“It was really a tall order but as citizen diplomats we lived up to the task. Besides promoting relations between Zimbabweans and the international community, the awards present an environment where diplomats, regardless of their divergent political views, interests and foreign policies, celebrate in unison,” he said.

The seventh edition of the Diplomat of the Year Awards will see 10 ambassadors and three deputy head of missions walking away with gongs. Two prizes will be presented per each category or continent. The overall winner will be selected from the 10 nominees.

“In total we are giving away 15 awards to the diplomats. However, this year we have also expanded the Citizen Diplomats’ awards from just two to five.  Citizen Diplomats’ awards will honour Zimbabweans who have impacted positively on other people’s lives, especially changing the lives of the poor and marginalised groups.

“Areas that will be looked at this year include poverty alleviation,peace-building,economic inclusion,gender equality, and climate action,” said Mr Chapfunga.

Explaining the selection criterion for the diplomat awards, Mr Chapfunga said the committee looks at many aspects like how the diplomat relate with other diplomats; how well they represent their countries and their passion to make a positive change in the lives of Zimbabweans.

“We have an independent nomination committee that has been working throughout the year, responsible for the selection.

“They look at these aspects and more to determine the winners.

“All diplomats who have been in Zimbabwe for six months or more are legible for nomination.

“For the Citizen Diplomat awards, a panel of the nomination committee and media representatives will select the winners,” he explained.

The Diplomat of the Year Awards were established in 2012 by Diplomat Magazine with the prime objective of celebrating the contribution of all diplomats in Zimbabwe to the development of the country and its people.

“After the success and endorsement of the third edition of the awards which was held at Meikles Hotel in 2014, most stakeholders felt that the awards had outgrown the founders and there was need to set up a Board of Trustees to host and manage the awards. This resulted in the formation of the Diplomacy Appreciation Trust (DAT) which organises and manages the awards each year,” explained Mr Chapfunga.

He said for the first three editions of the awards, winners were selected based on a popular vote from submissions by embassies.

However, after the formation of DAT, a nomination committee made up of journalists, civic society and business representatives now selects the winners. The awards have grown to become one of the biggest events on the diplomatic calendar in Zimbabwe, attracting far more ambassadors, UN representatives and international media coverage than any other event.

The late Spanish Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ms Pillar Feragut, won the inaugural Diplomat of the Year Award. Her runners-up were the former Chinese and Kuwait ambassadors to Zimbabwe, Mr Xin Shunkang and Abdullah Jumah Al-Sharhan respectively.

In 2013, the award was scooped by the former EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell’Ariccia. His runners-up were Ambassador Yeetendra Kumar Tripathi of India and Ndiyoi Mutiti of Zambia.

In 2014, Ambassador Mutiti rose from runner the previous year to scoop the Diplomat of the Year Award. Her runners-up were Ambassador Stefano Lavizzari of Switzerland and Ambassador Marcia Marodasilva of Brazil.

In 2015, Ms Gerdine Sneller of Netherlands won the overall award followed by Mr Adid Mohammed Rajabu of Tanzania and Hashem Dajani of Palestine as the first and second runners-up.

In 2016 the overall award was won by UN Resident Co-ordinator to Zimbabwe, Mr Bishow Parajuli. Last year, the top award went to European Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Philipe VanDamme.

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