ZERO AGENDA WITH A SELFIE

 

by : David A. Lawrence

I've worked in the field of International Relations for 6 years and still counting as the youngest government official on the mission in many cases and here's some key observations I'd like to share:

1. If you go with zero agenda to a conference, you will ONLY RETURN WITH A SELFIE and no meaningful interventions, recommendations to the state to take action; and no way forward or a plan to adhere to the communique of such fora.

2. We are told not to upload photos of hotel rooms, food and alcohol on our social media because the trip is covered under taxpayers money.

3. If you miss morning briefings with the government contingent, you will be annoying everyone the whole day asking questions and remain useless with little or nothing to report back at the afternoon debriefing. This means you've wasted a day's allowance on the trip with no contribution to the team.

4. Your mission starts as soon as the announcement of the meeting while in the country and not during the opening ceremony of the conference. Strategic lobbying to sponsor resolutions and mobilizing support from other member states is draining. Sometimes you will have to be the tourism ambassador if it means to give away coffee, souvenirs or wear bilas.

5. Watch your tone, don't raise your voice but improve your argument during debates. A good ambassador is one who does not directly attack but practices diplomacy. Wear professionalism on your sleeves. Be concrete, concise and clear. Make sure you deliver your intervention within the given speaking time.

6. Breaks are for networking and not for feeding yourself or finding a corner to stick with your country delegation. Most best practices are shared along corridors and most proposals are discussed during this time. Network with many people as possible and learn from them. Get yourself an electronic business card, it's easy to save with a QR code.

7. Write sections of your report every day. If you wait for the conference to be over, you will submit your report after months which is useless and may not be made a priority in the ministry.

8. You will miss out on important information if you take photos and videos of all the speakers. That's the official media's job and it will be uploaded on YouTube or UNTV with quality footage or download flicker and you will find your quality and high resolution photos there.

9. Always follow processes and protocol. As long as Public Policy is concerned, wider consultations must be held with partners and stakeholders pre- conference and a reporting workshop must be held post conference.

10. Most importantly, provide an acquittal report when you return. It is not a vacation trip funded from your personal account.

11. If you speak several languages eg. French, Spanish or Portuguese; you automatically become the translator for the head of delegation and your job is to facilitate proper networking for him/her. Do not use your multilingual ability for your own advantage and this is in the form of sabotage to strike deals not approved by the state, or speaking I'll against your own country at the meeting.

12. Last but not least, nothing runs on PNG time, you either dress in the train, in the uber or while walking to the venue if you're not time cautious.

The reason why all CHOGM, UN treaty commitments, APEC outcomes and PIFs strategy aren't effective in this country is because people travel for exposure, sight-seeing and to get allowance without delivering on their expected mission.

We are our own destruction, not China and not white people. We ourselves do this to Papua New Guinea.

*Stating all of this doesn't make me a perfect ambassador of this country, I've learned over the years and I am still learning but what's coming out from the recent UNGA and COP26 is appalling especially with government officials behavior.