RAMALLAH, April 26, 2012 (WAFA) – Eighteen Palestinian senior officers from the president’s office have been awarded with certificates on diplomatic protocol after having completed a course held by the former deputy head of Italian Diplomatic Protocol Ambassador Stefano Starace Janfolla, an Italian consulate press release said Thursday.

The ceremony took place at the Muqata in the presence of Hussein al-Araj, chief of staff, Intisar Abu Amara, director general of the president's office, Neveen Serray, chief of diplomatic protocol, the Consul General of Italy, Giampaolo Cantini, the Consul of Italy Roberto Storaci and Arch. Antonio La Rocca, director of the Palestinian Municipalities Support Program (PMSP).

The training was held from April 22 to 26 at the premises of the Muqata with the aim to communicate to the participants the international best practices on diplomatic protocol both through the illustration of exiting theory and literature and through the analysis of practical cases.

The course continued the training path started last year with the launching of two workshops on communication skills held at the International Training Center (ITC) in Turin, Italy, between March and July 2011 and a course on Diplomacy in Practice-Protocol of State and Official Visits held in Rome last July 2011 at the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The courses have been realised with the support of the Italian Government - Consulate General of Italy in Jerusalem through the Palestinian Municipalities Support Program - in coordination with the International Labor Organization of Turin in favor of the president and prime minister’s offices and others ministries such as foreign affairs, justice, economy, interior and the Negotiation Affairs Department of the PLO.

M.S.