Law of the Sea Training
Shared in 18th AHA! Hour

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) held its 18th episode of AHA! Hour: A Knowledge Sharing Session on 29 May 2025 at DoubleDragon Tower, Pasay. FSI’s Chief Training Officer Ms. Dulce Amor N. Fortunado shared her experiences in The Hague with fellow representatives from the ASEAN region. 

In her presentation, Fortunado narrated her whole learning experience—citing similarities on how FSI conducts its training programs relevant to the law of the sea which include lectures, study visits, and workshops—to the institutional collaborations between academies to organize such scholarships.

Aside from lectures on the Law of the Sea Convention, Fortunado shared that the 2-week sessions also included workshops, presentations, and a simulation activity on stakeholder analysis, intercultural communication, and negotiation skills. The participants also had study visits to the Peace Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.

In closing, Director General Francisco Noel R. Fernandez III encouraged those in attendance to strengthen their knowledge and lead in conversations concerning the law of the sea.

Fortunado participated in the Training Programme on Law of the Sea for ASEAN Member States and ASEAN Secretariat organized by the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS), Utrecht University, and The Clingendael Institute which took place from 3 to 14 June 2024 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The AHA! Hour is the Institute’s platform for returning DFA and FSI scholars to echo the knowledge they acquired during their overseas or local studies or training.