Professor Deborah Cai, chair of the Strategic Communication Department, was one of the trainers for a three-day training program for Afghan and Italian diplomats on gender communication and leadership. The program was sponsored by the Italian Foreign Ministry and the training program was conducted by Women’s Campaign International in Rome.

More than 20 Italian and Afghan diplomats, both men and women, participated in the training. Cai, along with Susan Ness, a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission; Kerri Kennedy, executive director of Women’s Campaign International; and U.S. Ambassador Meryl Frank, United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, led the leadership training sessions that covered issues such as competence, power, strategic vision and media management.

The Afghan participants were chosen through written and oral exams and an interview from more than 700 government employees wishing to attend the program.

“At the conclusion of the program one woman said that she returns to Afghanistan with courage, and that she hopes to share that courage with other women,” Cai said.