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Indonesia to implement 4+1 formula at UNSC

Indonesia unveiled on Wednesday a list of priorities it will pursue for the two years it serves on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) beginning this year by bringing back the “4+1” formula that has become part of the Foreign Ministry’s lingo for select international issues

Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, January 17, 2019

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Indonesia to implement 4+1 formula at UNSC

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ndonesia unveiled on Wednesday a list of priorities it will pursue for the two years it serves on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) beginning this year by bringing back the “4+1” formula that has become part of the Foreign Ministry’s lingo for select international issues.

Jakarta is to bring what it calls its 4+1 list of priorities to the council, in hopes it would help the UN’s most powerful decision-making body be more effective in addressing global security issues, a senior ministry official has said.

According to the ministry’s director general for multilateral cooperation, Febrian A. Ruddyard, threats to global security and peace had evolved significantly in the past 10 to 15 years.

Just a decade ago, Febrian said it was unheard of that the global community would be faced with the growing specter of transnational organized crime, irregular migration and displacement, as well as the emerging phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters.

In an effort to reinforce the tools of multilateral diplomacy to adapt to constant change and global uncertainty, he said Jakarta decided to promote its 4+1 priorities at the security council.

“The first priority is [creating an] ecosystem for peace and stability. Peace should not only be created in a single place, but also be made in a [wider] ecosystem that would allow it to be sustainable,” the official told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Febrian said sustainable peace and stability would be achieved through win-win solutions with an emphasis on mediation, reconciliation, consultation and negotiation.

The second priority highlighted synergy between regional organizations and the council, in which entities are encouraged to actively engage in peace efforts put forward by the council in their respective regions.

Using ASEAN as his example for a first-responder of conflicts in Southeast Asia, Febrian underscored the importance of interregional cooperation.

“Regional conflicts are usually understood better by countries in the respective regions. They usually have a better understanding of the psychology of situations and the effectiveness of mechanisms than the UNSC members themselves,” he said on Wednesday.

Indonesia’s third priority is the handling of terrorism, radicalism and violent extremism. Jakarta would be proposing hard and soft power approaches as well as solutions that are “within the corridors of law”.

The fourth priority is to enforce peacebuilding efforts to sustain stability in post-conflict regions.

The last priority is an actual conflict that has been a part of Indonesian foreign policy since the 20th century. “We call [the priorities] 4+1 because the last one is not the least important, but equally essential — which is the issue of Palestine,” he said.

Indonesia, a staunch supporter of Palestinian statehood, is likely to face challenges in cooperating with pro-Israel countries, experts have said, most notably the United States, which, along with four other permanent council members, has the power to veto any tabled council resolutions.

Jakarta would attempt to convince other council members to team up with Indonesia to address the issue so that it would become a highlight of the council’s discussions, Febrian said.

The 4+1 formula was first used by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Indonesia’s mediation of the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, in which hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were driven to the border and into neighboring Bangladesh following a military crackdown in the restive state.

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