Indonesia's s Presidency for United Nations Security Council - Open Debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts

New York City was summery that day.
After having my shaum at 3 AM in the morning, we were getting ready for the D-Day.
Yes, Thursday, May 23rd, Indonesia was once again chairing the Open Debate at the UN Security Council. 
I put on one of my favorite batik outer from Sekar Kedaton.
It was red, white and blue.
How perfect as it reflects the colors of Indonesian flags,- red and white,- and blue representing the United Nations. What a coincidence!
Then we did the final check on draft statements, Chair's notes, possible scenarios, draft summaries and reports, and media materials.
All checked and done!
9 AM we were heading to the UN Headquarters and made the final preparation in the meeting room.
Then 9.50 AM, the Ministed for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, H.E. Mrs. Retno Marsudi, and the UN Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Antonio Gutteres joined us in the meeting room.
After a few courtesy talks and photo sessions, including with Ambassadors of Russia, Poland, and South Africa who were wearing their beautiful batik shirts and stolla, we all were ready to start.
Let the meeting begin..

***

Indonesia, the UN Security Council President for May 2019

Here's the first note on Indonesia's s Presidency at United Nations Security Council for the month of May 2019.

As I have mentioned in my previous post before and shared it at WW: Indonesia's Presidency for United Nations Security Council, Indonesia is continuing its presidency through Open Debate on Protection of Civilians during armed conflict. the debate was taken place in May 23rd, 2019, in UN Headquarters in New York City. Beside that, we have series of side event and other meetings as well during this month, including consultation on Middle East issue.

Some of NYC and Jakarta team for this Open Debate

This Open Debate was an integrated part of main events under the Council Presidency of Indonesia in May 2019 with a particular theme of “Investing in Peace”. As you can see, we had our signature event on Peacekeeping in the beginning of May. We also had photo exhibition on Investing in Peace during our signature event.

The meeting was also convened to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council seizing the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict as an item on its agenda and the 70th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law. It is indeed on of the important issues being discussed in the august Hall.

After the meeting..

The Open Debate was chaired by Minister Marsudi as the President of the Council in May 2019 and attended by around [80 UN member countries]. Among the prominent briefers are the UN Secretary-General who presented the annual report on PoC. President of ICRC, Peter Maurer, as well as CIVIC’s Executive Director, Federico Borello.

before the meeting..

The Report of the Secretary-General has identified numerous achievements during the last 20 years. Nevertheless, a lot of challenges in the protection of civilians recently are quite daunting. Numbers of civilian casualties from numerous conflicts in many corners of the world are steadily increasing. This is obviously a bleak picture for all of us.

In that context, Minister Marsudi urged international community to intensify their efforts in protecting civilians. “[We] must identify ways and means to make further progress in saving life. …We should focus on the people”, explained Minister Marsudi further.

Batik beautifully worn by my Minister and Ambassadors. Left to right: Permanent Representatives  of Indonesia, Poland, Indonesian Foreign Minister, and the Permanent Representatives of Russian Federation and South Africa.

This Open Debate reaffirms Indonesia’s support to strengthen international partnership in advancing the promotion of human rights, in particular civilians in armed conflict. Indonesia has been contributed through its active role in various international forum and technical assistance to various countries in the promotion of good governance issue.

During her speech in national capacity,  Minister Marsudi stressed the importance of community empowerment as the key element to strengthen national capacity in protecting civilians. It is important as members of the community are the first to  Participation from local community in the design and implementation of the civilians protection programs is needed to ensure that the tailor-made programs meet the needs of the affected communities.

In conclusions, the issue of protection of civilians in armed conflict is multidimensional in nature. In this regard, Minister Marsudi strongly suggested what further actions to take in countering those challenges. First, the need to strengthen national capacity of the State concerned. Second, the importance of ensuring effective implementation and compliance. And third, the importance of affirming women’s role and contribution as the agent of peace and security.

Again I was indeed very privileged  to be part of the team for the preparation and the conduct of this Open Debate. And may we all live in a better and more peaceful world. Amen.

WW: Indonesia’s Presidency for United Nations Security Council

May is indeed super special this year.

This is the month when the holy mont of Ramadhan starts, as well as Indonesia’s Presidency for United Nations Security Council.

Yes, Indonesia is the President of the United Nations Security Council for the month of May.

As you might know, Indonesia is elected as one of the Non-Permanent Members of the UN Security Council for 2019 - 2020. As stipulated in the rules of procedures, we are becoming the President of  UN Security Council in May, based on the alphabetical order rotation of all 15 Permanent and Non-Permanent members of this august body. Starting from the first of May, we took over the presidency.

Our Minister for Foreign Affairs, H. E. Retno Marsudi, chaired the series of first meeting during our presidency.

And you know why it's even more special?

We have delegations as well the UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, wore Batik and Tenun, the traditional fabrics of Indonesia.

Coming in varieties of patterns and colors, all those classic Batik are perfectly donned by ambassadors and head of delegations at the Security Council that day. 

As an Indonesian myself and avid lover of Wastra Nusantara or Indonesian traditional fabrics, I am super proud to see Batik was elegantly worn by Head of Delegations at the Security Council during the signature event of Indonesia on Peacekeeping, headed by H.E. Retno Marsudi, our one and only Foreign Minister.

The UN Security Council was chaired by Indonesian FM

Series of meetings and activities have been and will be conducted, including open debates on Peacekeeping and later on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict; Investing in Peace Photo Exhibition; and Arria Formula meeting on Palestine. I will be joining the meeting   in NYC on the third week of May as well

The photo exhibition

This is Indonesia for the world 🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩 .

all pictures are taken by my colleague 📷 : @hpra76 .

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun linking up 

Saga Multilateral - Multilateral Affairs for Everyone

Siapaa kita? 

Multilateral...

Saga Multilateral

Indonesia untuk Dunia (Indonesia for the world)

Thundering yell-yell and answers came from hundreds of us, the staff of Multilateral Affairs, who were gathering around our booth at Pernyataan Pers Tahunan Menlu (PPTM) or Annual Press Statement of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. 

That afternoon marked the opening of PPTM or the annual Press Statement, held in the main building complex of the Ministry in Central Jakarta.

This event was also coupled with 3-day exhibition from each Directorate Generals in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

For you who like to know more about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, feel free to click www.kemlu.go.id. 

Well, in a nut shell, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs consists of the Secretariat General; Directorate General fo Asia, Pacific and Africa Affairs; America and Europe Affairs; ASEAN; Multilateral Affairs; Information and Public Diplomacy; Law and International Treaties; Protocol and Consular; Inspectorate General; and Policy Analysis and Development.Each Directorate General has its own tasks and objectives, covering a wide range of issues formulated in our foreign policies.

And now, let me invite you to take a closer look of what my unit, Directorate General of Multilateral Affairs, particularly Directorate for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, does. And it's in the form of colourful cartoons. 

Introducing Saga Multilateral!

Saga Multilateral

We have a series of cartoon specially prepared for 2019 Annual Press Statement Expo.

The idea behind this creative approach is because we want to make sure that our works are understood by every stakeholders, including the your generations or our famous millennials. One of the biggest complaints and challenges we have in raising awareness about our works is the fact that most of the works take place in international fora, away from home and not always directly link to issues at home. Moreover, as part of the global community, besides putting forward our own priorities, we have to actively contribute to the joint efforts in making the world a better place.

We need to make them down to earth so that there is a sense of ownership from multi stakeholders plus more contributions to the whole process. Besides, the most important part of the whole process at the multilateral fora such as the United Nations is how to make it work at the grass root level. The real implementation of it. So long story short, we worked in a team to prepare the Expo, including brainstorming about these characters. One of our super talented friends, Mukti, was excitedly designing all these characters in details.

Let's take a look at them first and tell me what you think!

First we have, ADIL or literally translated as FAIR.

Adil is the icon of my unit, Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.

Adil is depicted as a true partner for democracy, diversity, development and social justice.

Tough job, right.

Adil from Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs

Second, we have LUHUR or literally translated as noble.

He is the icon of the Directorate of Social Cultural  Affairs and International Organisations of Developing Countries.

He is advancing civilisation for a better world, focusing on the importance of the fulfilment social cultural rights for all of us.

Third we have MAKMUR, or literally translated as prosperity. 

Makmur represents the Directorate for Trade, Industry, Investment and Intellectual Property Rights.

This unit is focusing on down-to-earth economic diplomacy to all our counterparts in order to achieve greater prosperity for all.

Next, we have BANGUN, or literally translated as development or to develop.

Bangun represents the Directorate of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, covering a wide range of issues regarding the effective implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, among others.

And of course, we have our fantastic female character, Damai  or literally translated as peace.

Damai is the iconic representation of the Directorate of International Peace and Disarmament. Taking care of issues related to peace and security, as well as disarmament efforts taken by countries and international organisations. As you know, international peace is such a luxury and we need to constantly take measures to ensure conflicts that take place in many parts of the world can be properly addressed through pacific settlement.

Damai from Saga Multilateral

Finally, we have BUNDA, or literally translated as mother.

Well, our Bunda is the character for our Secretariat General, which is taking care of so many aspects in order to make multilateral work for everyone.

Our Secretariat General is also in charge of Indonesia's candidacies in so many international organisations.

Well, Indonesia is member of 240 international organisations, ranging from those under the platform of United Nations to those which are dealing with Indonesia's foreign policies priorities.  

Bunda from Saga Multilateral

So, how do you like Saga Multilateral? 

Do you think it's easier to understand our works at the multilateral fora when we translate them into something interesting like this?

Which one is your favorite character?

WW: Welcome to the United Nations Security Council

Indonesia won its bid as one of the Non-Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council!

Our Foreign Minister and the rest of the high level delegation joined us on the last week racing to the D-Day of the election on June 8th, 2018.

Right after the election, all the Ministers of the new Non-Permanent Members of the UN Security Council took picture in the legendary room.

The big family of the Indonesian Delegation, be it from New York, Jakarta, as well as Geneva

Here's a glimpse of the UN Security Council Chamber at 

the UN Headquarters in New York

my daughter Obi 

Cheers..

Wish us luck!

May Indonesia's tenure in the Security Council bring more positivity and real action to the works of the UN Security Council and the organization 

as a whole.

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the linky party :)

January Sky

It has been quite sometimes I did not post my snaps on NYC sky.
Surprisingly, January has been crazily busy for me.
Meeting after meeting has confiscated my days and besides, the weather was rather wet, cold, and gloomy in the last couple of weeks. And the recent dynamics in politics is a bit worrisome as well.
I'm not going to bother you with what we discussed inside this organization, but you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Well, back to my hobby of peeping up the sky, recently we had some sunny days.
And trust me,  it's good to welcome sunshine again!
Although the crispy, freezing winter wind still come and get you.

So I rushed myself out and snapped a view of January sky.

And it's great to be outside!

Grayish ..but much, much better

Although the sky is typical greyish winter, but looking at Merah Putih, the national flag of my beloved Indonesia, majestically raised up there against the backdrop of the UN flag and clear sky, makes me feel good.

And proud.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

the sphere within the sphere...

Join us on Skywatch Friday and be blessed by majestic skies' photos from many corners of the world