The sliding doors of a diplomat
“A diplomatic career is a privileged observatory of what is happening in the world; you are often in the room where important decisions are being made for your country.” As a girl, Sara Rezoagli says she always loved traveling the world, thanks to her parents, who gave her the freedom to do so. Backpack, airplane, and off to points East, many miles away from the West. She then turned her passion for other cultures and distant worlds into a career. She is now Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Thailand and lives in Bangkok.
She says: “I graduated from Bocconi in 1994 with a degree in Political Economics with an international focus. After graduating, I decided to leave after considering a career in research, but it wasn’t for me, I wanted to go into the field.” So, in 1995 she went to Vietnam and worked in the field of development cooperation for some NGOs. “Then I moved into the institutional world, working for various UN agencies. I followed rural development programs and projects related to women’s micro-entrepreneurship.”
In 2001, she decided to enter the diplomatic field through a competitive entrance exam, and she won a position. This was the start of her career at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Directorate-General for Asia and Oceania. Those were years filled with planes, travel and suitcases. “I was posted at the embassy in Kabul until 2008. Then I was in Pakistan, in Islamabad, until 2014. I did a bit of everything, including development cooperation projects funded by the Italian government.” This was followed by experience in China, in Beijing, until her current posting in Thailand since September 2022. “In every country I’ve worked in, my approach has been guided by curiosity: I’ve always tried to learn the language and get to know the culture of the place by hitting the streets,” she adds.
As a woman who has experienced many different cultures, she says: “I can say that the glass ceiling is still there. Even in Italy, we have a long way to go to break it. I’ve changed countries every three or four years and I’ve always encountered some form of prejudice and stereotypes against women. There were times when I wasn’t taken seriously in my work, but in those cases I fought back: I reacted by proving my competence,” she adds, and she tells us of other experiences. “I had no problems in China – there are many women diplomats now – but it was more complicated in Afghanistan. Yet it’s true that in these countries, where the traditional component is strong, a foreign woman is perceived as an outsider. So much so that the rules and judgements of the local community do not apply to her.”
To young women interested in a career in diplomacy, Rezoagli explains that it is a path full of sliding doors. You change countries often, and you have to be ready to pack your bags, and move your family too. But it’s a career full of satisfaction, both for the sense of duty in working for your own country, and for the opportunity to help your fellow countrymen. “Having worked with women in the remotest villages in Asia who have succeeded in building their own independence, and maybe even a business, I tell the younger ones to take the plunge. If they can do it, we have no excuse.”
