Bangladesh student made Denmark's shadow ambassador

A Bangladeshi female student of a private university has been selected to be the shadow ambassador with the Denmark embassy in Dhaka for a day.

The Danish embassy told Prothom Alo on Thursday that Talbia Tanvir, a 23-year-old student of economics at the North South University, will get such a unique opportunity as a young Bangladeshi woman to get first-hand experience as a diplomat to promote the cause of women’s leadership.

Talbia visited the embassy on Wednesday for the first time to prepare for her task and next week she will shadow the Danish ambassador, Hanne Fugl Eskjær, for a full day.

The embassy further said, Talbia was selected from a large number of applicants for the shadow ambassador competition which is a part of the celebration of International Women’s Day 2016.

The shadow ambassador will discover how a real life embassy operates and how politics, development and trade come together in a truly international environment.

The embassy said the idea generated much interest among the young women in Bangladesh and several embassies run by women ambassadors in the country have decided to join the initiative.

According to the embassy, Talbia is very excited to have received this opportunity. She is keen to maximise learning from this unique occasion and strengthen her network.

“I believe there is a need to reform the existing educational and social structures that often leave women behind,” Talbia was quoted to have said.

Danish ambassador Hanne Fugl Eskjær is equally looking forward to having Talbia as a shadow ambassador for a day, according to the handout. She believes this initiative reflects the Danish priority to promoting women’s rights and economic empowerment in Bangladesh.
She feels that this opportunity will be an example for other aspiring young women to step up and be leaders in their own ways.

“Even though it’s a small initiative, it will give an individual some real life practical experiences which may build a bridge between their aspirations and achievements and hopefully will inspire many others like them,” the ambassador said.