International Relations & Global Diplomacy Dialogue (IRGDD)

As part of its ongoing commitment to youth empowerment, IRGDD's leadership continues to engage directly with the next generation of Nepali changemakers. Amb. Dr. Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal, President of the International Relations and Global Diplomacy Dialogue (IRGDD) and the Ambassadors Club Nepal, inaugurated the Presidential Model United Nations (MUN) 2025 at the Presidential Graduate School, Kathmandu, lighting the traditional panas to open the three-day conference.

The event brought together over 350 high school graduates from across Nepal as young delegates, simulating ten committees addressing pressing global issues across politics, security, social affairs, and the environment. The conference also featured panel discussions with diplomats, scholars, policymakers, and changemakers from Nepal and abroad.

A President Who Leads by Example

Dr. Dhakal's engagement with young delegates reflects the role IRGDD's leadership plays beyond institutional dialogue — as a bridge connecting Nepal's youth directly to real diplomatic experience and mentorship. Drawing on her own career as Nepal's former Ambassador to Oman and Spain, Dr. Dhakal shared lessons from the field: protecting the rights of Nepali migrant workers in Oman, and building cross-cultural partnerships on multilateral platforms in Spain.

Speaking to the delegates, she said:

"You can do everything because real change begins with participation."

"When young people think, speak, engage, and show up, nations begin to change, and the world begins to heal. From the classrooms of Kathmandu to the halls of Geneva, we need young Nepalis who can lead with confidence, speak with clarity, think globally, and act boldly. The world must not only hear about Nepal — it must hear from Nepal. And that starts right here, right now, with you."

Dr. Dhakal's presence and message at Presidential MUN 2025 embody the core of IRGDD's Youth Empowerment and Leadership Development work:

• Direct mentorship from senior diplomats — giving young delegates first-hand exposure to real diplomatic experience, not just simulated debate

• Building confidence and voice — encouraging students to see themselves as future negotiators and representatives of Nepal on the world stage

• Connecting classroom to career — linking youth platforms like MUN conferences to IRGDD's broader ecosystem of policy dialogues, research, and leadership programmes

• Modelling global engagement — using real examples from ambassadorial postings to show young Nepalis what it looks like to represent their country internationally

Engagements like this reinforce why IRGDD's Youth Department continues to prioritize platforms where students and young professionals can practice leadership, engage with policy issues, and build the networks needed to represent Nepal with confidence — from Kathmandu's classrooms to the world's diplomatic halls.

As Nepal's diplomatic education space continues to widen, IRGDD is deepening its own commitment to preparing young Nepalis for that global stage. A recent development in this landscape came with the Diplomatic Academy Nepal (DAN) formally signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brussels Diplomatic Academy (BDA) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. The agreement establishes a framework for cooperation in diplomatic education, executive professional training, academic exchange, and joint research — connecting South Asia's geopolitical vantage point with the institutional expertise of Brussels.

Under the partnership, DAN and BDA will explore joint training programmes and short courses spanning diplomacy, international relations, foreign policy, international law, global governance, security, economic diplomacy, ICT diplomacy, leadership, and negotiation — alongside executive education, capacity-building workshops, and faculty exchanges aimed at aspiring diplomats, policymakers, and private sector leaders.

Developments of this kind reflect a broader shift: Nepali institutions are increasingly building direct bridges to global centres of diplomatic training, giving local professionals structured access to international networks, practitioner-led learning, and world-class benchmarks — without needing to leave the region.

IRGDD's Own Initiative for Youth Empowerment

This growing ecosystem of institutional partnerships is precisely the space in which IRGDD's Youth Empowerment and Leadership Development agenda operates. Through its Youth Department, IRGDD has been steadily building parallel pathways for Nepal's next generation of diplomats, policy thinkers, and global affairs professionals — connecting students, young professionals, emerging leaders, and entrepreneurs with government institutions, academia, development partners, diplomats, international organizations, and the private sector.

While DAN and BDA's agreement strengthens executive and institutional-level exchange, IRGDD continues to invest at the grassroots and emerging-leader level, through:

• Policy dialogues and research initiatives that give young people a direct voice in shaping national development and diplomatic discourse

• Leadership programmes, workshops, and capacity-building activities spanning governance, economic diplomacy, technology, climate action, trade, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Internship and volunteer opportunities for university students and young professionals across international relations, diplomacy, development, public policy, research, and entrepreneurship

• Academic and institutional collaboration, welcoming universities and colleges to partner on experiential learning, research, and youth leadership programming

As institutions like DAN forge new international ties, IRGDD sees this as complementary momentum — evidence that Nepal's diplomatic and policy training landscape is expanding on multiple fronts. The Youth Department remains committed to ensuring that this momentum translates into real opportunity for young Nepalis: equipping them with the skills, networks, and platforms to compete and negotiate confidently on the global stage.

IRGDD welcomes young leaders, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and future diplomats committed to contributing to a more inclusive, peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.