Johan B. P. Maramis:
14. A RICH AND VARIED EXPERIENCE
When I assumed office as the fourth Executive
Secretary of ECAFE, the world was still dominated with superpower rivalry.
On the international economic scene the developing
countries spearheaded by the Group of 77, were struggling to achieve a just and
equitable international economic order. In the ECAFE region the dominance of
Asia in ECAFE’s work program was reflected in the prominence of Asian projects.
The Peoples Republic of China had just reoccupied its lawful seat; the Southeast Asia nations were busy consolidating their ASEAN sub regional grouping. Indochina was still involved in the Vietnam War while the Pacific island countries were hardly in the picture.
With the re-emergence of China and Vietnam at a later
stage, ASEAN and Pacific, a new power equation slowly started to take shape.
Against this backdrop.
I was determined that the ECAFE region should more
accurately reflect the new power equation and geographical boundaries. The change of the name from ECAFE to ESCAP
was accomplished in my first year. It took me several visit to China to
convince it to play a more active role. After I persuaded Vietnam to
re-activate the Mekong river basin project, Vietnam decided also to play its
part constructively. The opening of ESCAP Liaison office in Nauru brought the
Pacific into the fold of regional development.
The acceptance of
“Asian Strategy for development” concept was also ESCAP contribution to
the global efforts of a new international economic order. The adoption of the
Colombo and New Delhi Declarations reflected ESCAP’s new concept, philosophies
and approaches.
Eight years later, on the eve of my retirement from
ESCAP, I could note with satisfaction that the years of my tenure had seen a
much deeper and systematic awareness of the social dimensions of development,
with the overriding emphasis on the human element as the primary reason for and
beneficiary of development. In actual practice, the changed orientation that I
had consistently encouraged now pervaded the entire program of the Secretariat.
Inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination by now had been improved
considerably and was characterized by a greater degree of mutual trust.
Furthermore, it had been the constant endeavour of the Secretariat to secure
the fullest involvement of all parts of the vast in the Asian and Pacific
region in the programs of ESCAP.
There had also been a marked advance in the evolution
of Asian and Pacific identity. Continued increases in extra-budgetary funding
had played a crucial role in responding to the felt needs and priorities of the
developing member countries.
ESCAP had acted as an umbrella regional body in
promoting international co-operation and in facilitating the formation of
appropriate sub-regional groups and in encouraging understanding and
co-operative action between the sub-regional groups as well as with the other
regions.
No regional organization with a similar size and
scope could possibly escape the ramifications of a changing world order. ESCAP
was certainly no exception in that ESCAP forums at times mirrored the growing
division between the economically developed North and the less developed South.
On the political front this North-South polarization was manifested in various
forums. The most obvious being the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77. At
many ESCAP forums the developing countries were consistently supportive of the Group
of 77’s call for a new international economic order. No doubt the political,
social and economic realities weight heavily on our shoulders and found a great
deal of expressions within ESCAP. But for all its shortcomings, ESCAP provided
a forum where nations could address issues of mutual concern and attempt to
embark, however, haltingly and tentative on path towards regional cooperation
and accommodation. My hope that in a some small way, I was able to foster a
truly “internationalist’ spirit and vision for the organization.
The relevance of the United Nations.
For more than a quarter of a century of my public
career I was involved with the work of the United Nations, in one aspect or
another. Starting with my first assignment with Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
when as Chief of the Foreign aid and Commodities section, I had attended my
first ECAFE meeting, to my promotion as Head of the Directorate of
International organization where I co-ordinated policies on our relations with
the United Nations, specialized agencies and bodies, to my two assignments with
the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations in new York and
subsequently to my appointment as Executive Secretary/Under-Secretary
General of ESCAP, I had become very
familiar with the work of the United Nations.
First and foremost it is important to understand that
the United Nations is not a world government. No member states gives up its
sovereignty by joining the Organization. The United Nations can act only when
the member states decide that it should. Achievements and failures reflect the
collective will of the members.
Public perceptions of the United Nations have
sometimes been clouded by a variety of criticism, some made in good faith,
others made of ignorance or for public gains. Healthy and constructive
criticism is essential for the vitality and efficacy of any organization. But
ill-informed criticism serves neither the United Nations nor the world
community well.
The United Nations as an international organization
is no longer a gleam in the eye of an idealistic world. It is a fact of modern
life, in one level taken for granted in daily life, on the other level forming
the cornerstone of the foreign policies of many government around the world.
Since the world organization was founded in 1951, the
United Nations had played a crucial role by encouraging the aspirations of
dependent peoples and by setting goals and standards to accelerate their
attainment of independence.
Despite frustrations and setback, the organization
had steadily developed its capacity as a peacemaking and peacekeeping
organization. United Nations mediation efforts and peacekeeping forces had been
instrumental in checking of the resolving conflicts between member states in
many parts of the world.
The United Nations formulated its first Universal
Declaration of Human rights in 1948 and two covenants came into force in 1976
which provide measures to check on complaints of human rights violation.
But in the economic, social and humanitarian where
the achievements of the operation units of the United Nations family constitute
perhaps the most visible and recognizable symbols of United Nations success.
A time for reflection.
Looking back at a career in public service that has
spent over three decades, I consider myself fortunate that by the grace of The
Almighty I had encountered so many rich and rewarding experiences throughout
those years.
Perhaps the most fortuitous decision I had ever made
was to select a career in the Indonesian Foreign Service. For it was the start
of a most remarkable journey which helped to shape my attitude and outlook on
life. When I first joined the Foreign Ministry we hardly knew the meaning of
world diplomacy. We had to learn the hard way, based on our limited knowledge
and understanding of the art of diplomacy. Fortunately I was entrusted with
wide -ranging responsibility that honed my skills as a diplomat. When I
attended the first international conference the only advice I was given was to,
listen and learn about international conferences. I happened to be a keen
observer and managed to learn a great deal about international conferences from
the ones I attended in my early years at the Foreign Ministry. As I build upon
my experiences, I was assigned for my first posing in New York where I have
been able to master the inner workings and intricacies of the United Nations.
This experience was very useful when I was later promoted to head of the
directorate of International Organizations that monitored our relations with
the United Nations and other such multilateral forum.
I believe that my career, particularly at the United Nations benefited greatly from the fact that the Foreign Ministry had allowed a great deal of latitude in determining Indonesia’s position in a number of important economic issues. And my experience in multilateral diplomacy played an important part in launching some worthwhile United Nations activities. For example I had no instruction to vote for the consolidation of United Nations technical assistance programs. I had to rely on my personal skills as a consensus-builder to forge a workable solution among the divergent views. The same holds true when I initiated an amendment to hold an United Nations Conference on Trade and development (UNCTAD) of the developing countries. We were given the freedom to develop our own initiative and to use our common sense. The only instruction we were given was to uphold our independent and active foreign policy.
Aside from the successes, I also experienced some
setbacks and fears in my early career. I consider Indonesia’s withdrawal from
the United Nations as one of the most noticeable setbacks in our foreign
policy. We were fortunate that it proved to be only temporary. Yet the image of
our flag lowered down and our nameplate being removed from United Nations
headquarters left a very deep and lasting impression on me. I also experienced
great fear in the months preceding the abortive communist coup d’etat, when the
working environment at the Foreign Ministry was fraught with tension and
suspicion.
My hopes were raised with the new order under
President Suharto. Because the new government appeared determined to set
Indonesia on the road to recovery in all aspect of political, social and
economic development. Part of this strategy involved a higher profile for the
Foreign Ministry to improve Indonesia’s standing in the world community. As a result the Indonesian Mission to the
United Nations was further strengthened and I was given a second assignment to
the United Nations. This would enable me to undertake two important tasks:
first to assume the presidency of ECOSOC, one of the most important highlights
of my career, and second to initiate and support Adam Malik‘s presidency of the
General Assembly. Along with these reorientation of our foreign policy came
increased opportunities for promotion.
Every diplomats dream is to attain an ambassadorship. I was very
honoured when I received my appointment as Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg
and the European Community midway through my Foreign Service career. A
significant highlight of this posting was president Suharto’s state visit to
Belgium that I helped to coordinate and which eventually went off without a
hitch.
I have no doubt that I would have continued into more
challenging assignments in the foreign service, had it not been for my
appointment as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Asia and the Far East. Whereas an ambassadorship represents one
of the highest pinnacles of success for a career foreign service officer, a
posting in the United nations Organization with the rank of Under- Secretary
General is of similar accomplishment for an international civil servant.
As the fourth Executive Secretary of ESCAP, my scope
of responsibility was widened immensely as I now I had to look after the
interest of just one, but 43 countries in the region so vast and diverse that
defies description. Yet I approach the task with the same perseverance,
determination and enthusiasm with which I tackled other assignments in u
career. Perhaps which I consider ESCAP two most noticeable achievements under
my leadership reflected in large measure my genuine commitment for the under
privileged.
The first achievement was the program on rural
development that was undertaken jointly with several United Nations agencies.
Throughout my tenure I had stressed the importance of an integrated approach to
identifying and solving the multitudinous problems of the region, particularly
in the rural sector where much of the population is based. Development had to
embrace social dimensions, in addition to economic indicators. The change of
name from ECAFE to ESCAP symbolized this new direction while the initiation and
implementation of integrated development programs formed the cornerstone of
this new approach.
The second accomplishment was the fulfilment of my
personal commitment to foster a greater role for ESCAP in the Pacific
Islands and in countries bordering the
Pacific. The active participation of China and Vietnam and the opening of the
ESCAP Liaison Office base in Nauru were the culmination of my efforts. Once a
remote sub region, the Pacific island countries had become an active partner in
development.
Gradually a greater sense of Asia Pacific identity
had emerged.
I had no difficulties working with the hundreds of professional and General service staff comprising over 40 different nationalities. I remember that during my first senior staff meeting with the heads of division and special units, I had given them a greater insight into my working style. Essentially I impressed upon them that I was a firm believer in team work and open management and that my door would always be open without distinction to rank. I also reminded them that they were the selected people in the service of the United Nations and expected them to be worthy of the ideals enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
My achievements at ESCAP were no
doubt the result of close and harmonious working relationships imbued with a
spirit of loyalty to the United Nations. And I hope throughout my 8 years of
service I had come to exemplify a true “internationalist” spirit that helped
ESCAP forge a common identity and seek common objectives in spite of the
region’s diversity.
My friends have always asked me what had been my
recipe for my success. My answer is that there is no magic formula except hard
work and perseverance. Cultivation of personal relations is also an important
factor.
I am proud to have served the United
Nations as one whose guiding force has been the ideals embodied in the Preamble
to the United Nations Charter.
In my years
in the service of my country, I can only be grateful that it has been a
rich, varied and intensely satisfying experience.
Posted April 28, 2002 -
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