1. FOREIGN AFFAIRS DAY & ESSAY COMPETITION
As part of the celebratory activities marking the Jamaican Foreign Service’s 50th
Anniversary, the Ministry of Education has given the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign
Trade (MFAFT), the go ahead to acknowledge Wednesday, May 2, as Foreign Affairs
Day, in the nations’ secondary institutions.
On this day, Senior MFAFT officials will be visiting three high schools: (one (1) in each
county)
1. The Queen’s School
2. Manchester High School
3. Mannings High School
It is expected that the neighbouring schools will also be assembled at that central school. In
addition to delivering presentations on the Ministry’s mandate and activities, there will be
announcements on the rules and guidelines of the essay competition for the high schools’
fifth and sixth formers.
Details on Essay Competition & Foreign Affairs Day:
Please be advised of the following decisions taken by the Ministry concerning Foreign
Affairs Day and the related Essay competition:
1. The Ministry will dispatch senior officers to speak at three high schools one (I) per
county across Jamaica on Foreign Affairs Day, Wednesday 2nd May 2012: (schools
that are in close proximity to these three (3) are invited to join in)
2. The schools to which officers will be assigned are – The Queen’s School, Manchester
High School and Mannings High School
3. The Essay competition is open to all fifth and sixth formers enrolled in public high
schools in Jamaica and all entries must be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Foreign Trade by Monday, September 10, 2012. Complete contact details
must be included with the entries, as the winners will be selected during the summer
while high school students will be on leave.
4. Entry for the competition requires the submission of a fifteen hundred (1500) word
essay on one of the following topics:
- What is the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign
Trade in helping Jamaica achieve its development objectives?
- What do you envision Jamaica achieving, through its diplomatic
relations, over the next fifty years of its existence?
- “Jamaica is a small country with a very big presence in world
affairs” – Myth or reality?
5. Children of employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade are
ineligible for participation in this competition
6. All entries are to be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade,
21 Dominica Drive, Kingston 5, or, electronically, to informja@cwjamaica.com to the
attention of Miss Ann-Margaret Lim, Head, Public Relations and Media Affairs Unit, no
later than 12:00 p.m. (mid-day), Monday, September 10, 2012

2. 7. All entries shall be judged by a panel comprised of senior officers at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and a senior faculty member of the University of
the West Indies, Mona campus.
8. The prizes in the competition are:
- 1st Prize – A five day, all expense paid trip (flight, hotel accommodation,
stipend) to New York in October 2012 to participate as an observer, with
the Jamaican Youth Delegation, during the United Nations General
Assembly. The prize will also cover the costs of transporting and
accommodating an accompanying chaperone.
- 2nd Prize – One month internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Trade during Summer 2013
- 3rd Prize – Book vouchers to cover textbook related expenses for the
September term/semester