The 2023 edition of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Diplomatic Week will showcase for the first time a Diplomatic Boulevard slated for Thursday, April 27. The aim of this special feature is to afford the general public an opportunity to meet and interact with the diplomats.
While appearing on the Government’s weekly radio and television programme “Infocus” on Wednesday, April 12, Kaye Bass, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, shed some light on what to expect at the Diplomatic Boulevard.
“In the past when ambassadors came to St. Kitts and Nevis for Diplomatic Week they would meet generally only with high-level officials but this year we introduce what we call diplomatic boulevard and this will facilitate greetings of the ambassadors with the public,” said PS Bass.
Ms. Bass said that the hope is that the general public, especially students, will use the opportunity to discover more about diplomacy and hopefully develop an interest.
“The general public will have access to the ambassadors so they can ask them any question. We suspect that there will be students who will ask what [they may] need to do in order to become an ambassador, what subjects are needed and what educational track [they should] follow in order to become an ambassador,” she said. “We hope that the engagement with the public will not only heighten awareness about what Foreign Affairs does but it will also motivate and encourage younger persons to pursue this career.”
PS Bass noted that the addition of the diplomatic boulevard to this year’s Diplomatic Week, as well as the week itself, is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #17 – Partnership for the Goals, which speaks to “strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development.”
According to PS Bass, the Diplomatic Boulevard was scheduled to be set up on Central Street. However, it will be merged with the Agriculture Open Day, providing the diplomats not only with an opportunity to interact with the public, but also to experience what happens at Agriculture Open Day and what St. Kitts and Nevis produces.
Diplomatic Week 2023, slated for April 23-28, will be held under the theme: “Driving Change: Advancing a Vision for a Sustainable Island State.”