‘Need-To-Know’ Tips for New United Nations Delegates
Taking The Floor
One of the more frustrating things when dealing with new delegates / representatives at international negotiations is the idea of ‘taking the floor’. Many will just freeze up when they have to say something in public, much less argue an unpopular point of view. This happens to the even the most seasoned representatives, and is an aspect of diplomacy that can be overcome, with practice and with one constant reminder.
The reminder is to self – that this is about the survival of the country. If we as negotiators or as representatives fail to look out for the interests of our own country, then we would have failed the country as a whole.
In one particular incident at the UN, I left the room because there was another matter that required my urgent attention. Before I left, however, I asked another agency from Malaysia to make known our objection if the meeting moved on to the paragraph in question before I could return to the room. She said, don’t worry – she would do the needful.
When I came back to the meeting room, I found that the Chair had gavelled the paragraph we had an objection to and the meeting had gone on to other paragraphs. I asked the lady from that agency why she had not made the objection. Her answer? “The Chair did not ask me”
What had happened was that she was so used to being asked individually (a case where in her meetings the Chair would ask each and every person around the table, one by one), that when the Chair of our meeting asked if there were any objections, she just kept quiet. Malaysians are often a very humble lot – we speak only when spoken to, and give an opinion only when asked. This was one of those instances when it did not do the country any good to wait to be asked. And in a setting of 193 countries, the Chair is only interested in getting as many paragraphs adopted as possible – the less the objections, the better the chances of the resolution being adopted, and the faster would be the progress of the meeting.
So the lesson is simple – when at a big meeting such as the UN, the minute you have an objection, raise your name plate. Dont’ wait to be asked. And don’t worry about being popular; what’s the use of being liked by others when you have shortchanged your country? Always, always, always – the national interest comes first.
