On Friday, September 16, the 1st hybrid refresher Course on Inter-American Legal System for the Diplomatic Academy “Augusto Ramírez Ocampo” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia was completed. This course was organized by the Department of International Law of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS), with the sponsorship of the Diplomatic Academy of that country and lasted five days (September 12 -16, 2022) and had the participation of more than 40 students both in person and virtually.

Part of the Inter-American Program for the Development of International Law adopted by the OAS General Assembly in 1997 and updated in 2011, these activities also fulfill an OAS mandate to promote training and knowledge exchange with the region’s foreign affairs ministries.

The sessions of this course analyzed the following topics: i) Introduction to the Inter-American legal system; ii) American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; iii) Food security; iv) Inter-American Juridical Committee Guidelines on Binding and Non-Binding Agreements; and v) International law and State cyber operations. In addition, a negotiation simulation exercise was conducted.

The closing session of the Course was attended by the Director of International Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Ambassador Alejandra Valencia Gartner; the Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Colombia, Ambassador Martha I. Alarcón López; and and Dr. Dante Negro, Director of the Department of International Law of the OAS.

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