The “Ambassador for a Day: Women and Diplomacy“ is a joint initiative by the Embassies of Canada, United Kingdom and United States to the Czech Republic.
This year, building on the first Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, the Summit’s participants, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, will focus on how democracies deliver for their citizens and are best equipped to address the world’s most pressing challenges. The Czech Republic itself is facing numerous such challenges – starting from climate change, energy security, adaptation of education to 21st century economic requirements to growing differences among economic groups. In your essay, think creatively what tools or approaches of democracies we could use as a solution to such challenges.
How to participate:
- Submit an essay of a minimum of 500 words (maximum is 700 words) in English that responds to the following question:
How can we use the tools of diplomacy and international cooperation to ensure all have a say in a democracy and empower historically marginalized groups? - Your essay should be submitted via the following form: https://forms.gle/9oP3xgvhLzqYZcDH6 or via ukinczechrepublic@fcdo.gov.uk. Applicants are required to submit: surname, first name, email address, age, present occupation, where they learnt about this contest, and indicate their presence on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn).
- The contest is open to women, aged 16-25, who are resident in the Czech Republic and are able to communicate in both English and Czech.
- The essay must be submitted by midnight, April 9, 2023 via the above-mentioned form or email.
- Once submitted, the essay cannot be edited, updated, or resubmitted. Only one entry per person.
- Participation in the contest is understood as acceptance of all the rules of the contest.
Submissions of essays – format
Please, submit your essays in doc, docx, or pdf format. Each submission should include the name of the contestant.
Content
Submissions must be original pieces, must not include text protected by intellectual property rights or third party’s ownership rights.
Eligibility
- The Contest is open to women aged 16 to 25 who are residents of the Czech Republic and are able to communicate in both English and Czech.
- Only the person who submits the essay will be considered as the contest participant. To participate in the contest, the participant must submit all the requested information, which will be strictly used only for the purpose of the contest and will not be shared with third parties.
- The contest is not open to employees and interns of any of the sponsors, nor it is open to family members of such employees and interns.
- After submission of the essay, the contest participants may be publicly identified.
Selection of winners
The winners will be selected by representatives of all three Embassies. Each Embassy will choose one winner (three in total). The sponsors reserve the right to discount all entries to the contest that do not fulfill the requirements of the competition.
WINNERS
Each participating embassy will choose a winning essay whose author will win the opportunity to shadow the American, British or Canadian Ambassador (or Chargé d’affaires or Deputy Chief of the Mission) for the day to experience first-hand a “day at the office” of a senior diplomat.
Winners will be announced on May 15, 2023. Our aim is to inspire young women to think about what freedom and democracy means to them, and how women can contribute to international affairs. The winners will gain insight into the work of our Embassies on the issues, and perhaps inspire young women to consider a career in diplomacy.
Although the competition will launch on International Women’s Day (8 March), the actual work shadowing day will take place in the summer. It will cover a day’s worth of meetings and activities on the subject of freedom, democracy, and foreign affairs, which will be prepared by respective Embassies.
The winners will also have the opportunity to be profiled on participating Embassies’ social media feeds for a day to share their experiences.
AWARDS
Each of the three winners may expect:
- To spend a day at the Embassy with Embassy staff, shadowing the Ambassador and/or other Embassy representatives.
- Program of meetings with stakeholders, selected and planned by the Embassy
- To be profiled on the embassy’s social media accounts
- Small gifts from the Sponsors
