It is the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out that delegates from all across the globe would return to the annual UN meetings in person, after the World Health Organization proclaimed last week the world “had never been in a better position to end the pandemic”.

International civil servants and diplomats have experimented with the format of the meetings for the past two-and-a-half years, having offered countries ways to be represented both virtually and in person under hybrid arrangements. But now that activities are slowly returning to its normal and preferred pace, delegates are converging at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, to broach various topics underpinning global cooperation.

For Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, her hundreds of meetings over the next 10 days starts with a tête-a-tête with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York on Sunday local time.

She then heads into the new week full of activities that include the annual meeting of foreign ministers on foreign policy and global health, which has underpinned much of global collaborative efforts on COVID-19 mitigation.

Retno currently serves as co-chair of the GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Engagement Group, a collaborative financing instrument that supports the participation of 92 low- and middle-income economies in the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Indonesia is also a member of the Champion Group of the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG), an assembly of nations tasked by the UN Secretary-General to secure a global consensus to advocate solutions to the global food, energy and financial crises.

Besides multilateral diplomatic engagements, Retno is expected to meet bilaterally with many of her country counterparts, including all 20 members of the Group of 20 (G20) biggest economies. She is also expected to receive an award on behalf of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday, bestowed upon him by the Atlantic Council, an international relations-focused US think tank. The ministry previously confirmed the absence of Jokowi at the UN General Assembly and related events this year, at the behest of international relations observers.

In dire straits

While the UNGA is sought to address the plethora of impending crises caused by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, analysts and diplomats alike have expressed concerns that effective multilateralism has become increasingly elusive.

In the case of Russia, for example, hostility between the West and Moscow was far from negligible, jeopardizing any real chance of negotiation as walkouts and exclusion has become the norm, said international relations expert Riza Noer Arfani.

“The commitment to resolve issues at the negotiation table is lacking,” Riza told The Jakarta Post recently. “Saying that diplomacy has reached stagnancy is too dramatic – but I must say, it is definitely heading that way.”

In keeping diplomacy alive, Riza added that the time was nigh for the countries to rethink their strategies and base their decisions on voluntary norm-setting instead of coercion.

‘A hole far too large’

Indonesia’s attendance at the global assembly is not without any baggage either, as apparent in last week's statement by the UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, who expressed “shock” at the latest development of “intensified violence” in Papua.

That the instability in Papua was brought up was hardly a surprise, despite Retno’s preventive efforts to keep the hot issue out of the UNGA agenda. In early September, the minister, partly as an effort to appease the Pacific island nations against bringing forth the topic at the global assembly, journeyed to Fiji and Solomon Islands in what she described as upkeeping a “holistic” Indo-Pacific strategy.

While her efforts might have paid off – since those two countries have yet to speak against Jakarta – the issue was instead brought forth directly by the Human Right Council’s annual report.

On top of the recent civilian mutilation case committed by members of the National Army (TNI) mentioned by Al-Nashif, the report by UN Secretary-General Guterres mentioned four additional Papua-related cases; the intimidation of exiled human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, the arrest of rights activist Victor Yeimo and the interrogation of Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) advisor Wensislaus Fatubun and Yones Duow.

International relations expert Dafri Agussalim said last week that the issue of Papua was “a hole far too large” in Indonesia’s diplomacy fabric to be sufficiently patched by visiting some Pacific island nations and that a more thorough strategy must be taken to soothe this inflammatory issue.

“We should have been well versed on how different actors feel about Papua. It is not enough to appease the Pacific Island nations,” Dafri said.

Minister Retno is expected to speak at the UNGA General Debate on Sept. 26.

While the jury is still out on what the minister will say, a Wednesday statement by Indonesian Permanent Representative in Geneva, Febrian Ruddyard, may be indicative of Indonesia’s stance. Out of the 12 points vocalized by Febrian to counter Al-Nashif’s statement, five expressed firm disapproval towards “any human rights violation” while at least four were reserved to criticize both the Papuan separatist groups and the UN mechanism of condemnation.

“Recently, the West Papua National Liberation Army [TPNPB] has shot and/or stabbed 12 civilians [...] and caused 10 deaths. The Indonesian government strongly condemns this inhumane terrorist act and is committed to bring the perpretaros of such cruel crime to court,” Febrian said.

“We note with concern that the human rights mechanism of the UN, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights [OHCHR], have rarely if ever raised any concerns toward the violence perpetrated by these armed separatist groups.”

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