Foreign Minister Michael Frendo and University Rector, Prof. Roger Ellul Micallef yesterday signed an agreement to formally set up the MEDAC Foundation.
The Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC) was set up as a joint Maltese-Swiss initiative in 1990 for the post-graduate academic training of diplomats, mainly from developing countries of the Mediterranean region. Over the last fifteen years, more than 300 students have benefited from scholarships for a year’s course in Masters in Diplomacy at the academy. Apart from that, MEDAC offers also courses leading to a diploma, certificate and Masters in Diplomatic Studies, which are regularly attended by an ever-increasing number of Maltese and foreign students.
The MEDAC Foundation shall be administered by a board of administrators. The first four administrators appointed by the government and the University of Malta are President Emeritus Prof. Guido de Marco, Ambassador Alfred A. Zarb, University Rector Prof. Roger Ellul Micallef and Prof. Ian Refalo. Prof. de Marco was unanimously appointed as chairman for three years. One of the objectives of MEDAC states that it shall be an international centre for the training of specialists in diplomacy and the development and dissemination of knowledge and expertise in diplomatic studies as regards international law, international economics, internationals relations, diplomatic history and the practical aspects of diplomacy, with special reference to maritime and environmental issues and the Mediterranean region.
With the setting up of MEDAC as a foundation, the government and the university are giving the academy a legal personality under Maltese law, thereby strengthening its role as an international centre of Mediterranean studies. The deed of the foundation provides for the possibility of concluding agreements with other governments or institutions who may wish to associate themselves with the foundation or to contribute to the attainment of its objectives.
The agreement was also signed by the chairman and members of the Board of Administrators.