KUWAIT: The Embassy of Canada organized an initiative under the name of "Young Ambassador of Canada" recently. The Embassy partnered with the British School of Kuwait to select a student to become the Young Ambassador for a day. She would accompany Louis-Pierre Emond, Ambassador of Canada to the State of Kuwait throughout his official duties for the day. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage young women to consider diplomacy as a career path, to empower young women to learn about leadership roles, underline Canada's efforts in supporting gender equality and to stand up for women's rights around the world.
The Young Ambassador selected Reem Elassy, a year 12 student at the British School of Kuwait. Reem has been at the school for the past four years and is currently studying Economics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and History at AS Level. Reem is also participating in the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and is undertaking research to assess 'The extent to which unemployment was the main cause of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution'. Whilst she has a keen interest in International Relations, History and Diplomacy, Reem is hoping to study Economics at University with career aspirations in becoming an economist.
During this special day, the Young Ambassador led a number of meetings accompanied by Ambassador Emond. She started her day at the Embassy where she met with the staff to learn about their roles and responsibilities, then she had a meeting with Ambassador Emond who gave her an extensive overview of the diplomatic career path as well as the Canadian values in key areas of mutual interest for Canada and Kuwait.
She also had a fruitful meeting with Hamad Al-Mashaan, Assistant Foreign Minister for Americas Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to underline the key components of the bilateral relations between Canada and Kuwait. The Young Ambassador visited the UN House where she met with Dr Tarek El-Sheikh, UN Resident Coordinator to learn about the international organizations and their crucial role in the region. Finally, she had an interesting discussion with Aliya Al-Khaled, a local leader, to have a better understanding of the role of women in both the political and business spheres.
Ambassador Emond said on this occasion: "It was a great pleasure to spend the day with our Young Ambassador. Our objective was to allow a young woman to get to experience what a day in diplomacy is like and to hopefully inspire her and others to consider diplomacy as a career path. Diversity is key to ensuring the success of all life experiences, whether they be professional or personal. We wanted to highlight the importance of having people from every background, every walk of life in any organization.
It has been proven that having various perspectives taken into consideration allow for better policy making, decisions and the success of any organization. We encourage young women to continue to follow their dreams and find the path that fits their professional and personal needs. This will ensure we live in a better, more peaceful, more diverse, and fairer world."