The Monaco Department of International Cooperation has just completed its seventh year of Winter School in conjunction with the Sciences Po Menton campus, only this year, all classes were held virtually for the first time ever.
The Middle East Mediterranean Campus of Sciences Po Paris in Menton was organised with the help of the Monaco Department of International Cooperation (DCI). The programme is made for first-year students to raise awareness of the possible vocations available to them after graduation, as well as to teach them about various rights in the AMNO zone, which covers the Middle East and North Africa.
Since 2015, DCI has worked together with its partners, all experts in their fields, to speak with students enrolled at Sciences Po Menton. This year, there were 131 pupils from 28 different countries. But instead of being together in a classroom, the teacher-experts and students were all, for the first time ever, remotely learning.
The unusual circumstances brought about by the global pandemic meant that students were introduced to International Humanitarian Law by Frédéric Joli, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, to the Law of Persons with Disabilities by Dr Jean-Baptiste Richardier, founder of Handicap International, and the Right to Food by Geneviève Wills and Patricia Colbert, from the World Food Program and recent Nobel Peace Prize recipients. These more restrictive conditions were a reminder to students that life for some is always more closed and that the freedoms enjoyed in the West are not the same for all.
In his opening speech, Laurent Anselmi, Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, said: “Here you are – here we all are – immersed in a reality that is more constraining, less free, less mobile, less abundant. In a way, it is likely that this situation will make you more attuned to the harsh humanitarian and social realities that you will be addressing.”
The week was wrapped up with a “solidarity creative challenge” where students were grouped into teams and asked to promote five different rights discussed, with the use of visual aids. A prize was awarded to the team with the best presentation.
The Winter School represents a unique opportunity to create vocations among these future leaders, and to promote the united image of Monaco.
 
Photo: Sciences Po Menton © Communication Department / Michael Alesi