The Functional and Transition Programs Section of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) conducted the Course on Assistance-to-Nationals from 20 to 29 March 2023. Thirty (30) personnel from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) assigned and/or identified to assume the duties and responsibilities of an Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Officer in the Home Office and at Foreign Service Post (FSP) participated in the course.  

The course aims to equip DFA personnel with the knowledge of Philippine laws and policies on overseas Filipinos and introduce them to the basic procedures on ATN matters. The lectures and sharing of experiences from subject matter experts from the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of DFA, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Justice provided a platform for insightful exchanges and knowledge transfer between resource persons and participants on how ATN is managed, organized, and implemented not only in the Home Office, but at the FSPs as well.

Session on Counselling Skills with Mr. Angelbert Z. Hernandez, Administrative Officer V (Records Officer III), Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Department of Justice (top row, leftmost tile).

The online delivery of the course made it more accessible to participants from FSPs from the Home Office (Human Resources Management Office, Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office, Office of Asset Management and Support Services, Office of Consular Affairs, Office of the Undersecretary for Administration, and Office of the Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Affairs); Consular Offices (CO Calasiao, CO Iloilo, CO NCR South, CO Santiago, CO Tacloban, CO Tagum, and CO Tuguegarao), and FSPs (Chongqing PCG, Dhaka PE, Doha PE, Kuala Lumpur PE, Nairobi PE, Singapore PE). END