Youth from both banks stepped into the shoes of diplomats at the 9th edition of Model OSCE for Youth event

Twenty-two young women and men from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River gained and developed negotiation skills, and solved a crisis during a simulation of OSCE Permanent Council as part of the 9th edition of the Model OSCE for Youth event organized this year in-person by the OSCE Mission to Moldova from 18 to 21 October 2022.

Addressing the participants during the opening of the Model OSCE for Youth event, Deputy Head of OSCE Mission to Moldova Antti Karttunen welcomed and congratulated them on being selected to participate and spoke how rewarding the work of a diplomat can be even though being very intense, dynamic and highly responsible. “If you choose this path, you will most likely never regret it. However, good negotiation skills are needed in every job, and in daily life”, he added.

“I felt amazing, gained lasting experience and met extraordinary people, mentors, and workers from some OSCE structures and from the OSCE Mission to Moldova,” said Alexandru Fazlî, one of the participants. “I understand very well how this organization works, and after this 4-day activity I definitely returned home not only with important experiences, but also with important knowledge. In the end, I would like to recommend to all students passionate about diplomacy to apply to participate in the future editions of this project, because not always, studying at the university or in other projects such subjects, you could really feel the role of a diplomat and in 4 days could get to know so many things.”

During these four days, participants had the unique opportunity to meet OSCE diplomats and officials working in the Republic of Moldova and Austria, who had addressed them during the event, and learnt from the highly experienced trainers Ida Manton and Max Pijevskii. They were trained on negotiation techniques, styles and strategies, learned about the history and work of the OSCE, its structures and consensus-based decision-making process, about diplomacy and the role of the OSCE in conflict prevention and resolution, as well engaged in teambuilding exercises that helped them build relations.

The event concluded with a conflict resolution simulation exercise that engaged the participants in solving a crisis based on consensus and allowed them to become diplomats for one day by taking part in a mock session of the OSCE Permanent Council during a crisis situation. They stepped into the shoes of diplomats and played the roles of different OSCE participating States, institutions and other relevant actors and worked together to come up with a joint solution to solve a hypothetical crisis in the OSCE area and avoid the conflict.

The aim of the Model OSCE is to build confidence and strengthen dialogue between young women and men from both banks of the Dniester/Nistru River. It was first organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova in 2013 and has been held annually since then, except in 2018. The OSCE works with and for youth to make their voices heard and to help them use their potential to promote security and co-operation‪ in the OSCE area.