Seminar on Multilateral Negotiations
The Department of Foreign Affairs organized a seminar-workshop on UN General Assembly Resolution Drafting and Negotiations last August 28, 2015 at the Carlos P. Garcia Hall, DFA Building, Pasay City. The speaker was Mr. Miguel R. Bautista, Chief of Group Liaison, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The Diplomatic League member students were the participants of the event. Mr. Bautista pointed out that in diplomacy “it doesn’t matter from what country you’re from, as long as you have your vision and you do your job.” The workshop was to provide information about the real negotiations happening in the UN unlike those simulations done in various Model United Nations of universities. “Diplomacy is more boring than exciting,” Mr. Bautista said as he spoke about the sleepless nights for negotiations and drafting of resolutions. The speaker also pointed out that the general speech in the GA is very important as this is “where you put all your ammunitions.” Multilateralism is indeed incremental and evolutional.
The second part of the seminar was alloted for discussing how are UN resolutions drafted. Basically, a resolution has two parts. The Preambular Paragraphs or PP states the background and objectives of the resolution. It is the base or foundation. The Operative Paragraphs or OP are the PPs in action. These are actions to be executed by the member states and directed to the Secretariat. Mr. Bautista noted that PP has a tendency to migrate to OP. He further advised that one can keep an agenda alive by putting it into PP if it is currently impossible to be in OP. In drafting a resolution, one must know what he wants and looking back to the previous resolutions will give such ideas. Mr. Bautista discussed the processes involved before the formal drafting of the resolution. Consultations with “allies” or the bloc are done, then the informal-informals (meetings which may be done anywhere), informals (meeting which is slightly facilitated by a Vice-Chair), formal-informals (an informal plenary meeting), and lastly, the formal plenary wherein delegates try to adopt the resolution. The observers and press are only present in the formal plenary. The speaker also distinguished between ‘negotiation before tabling’ or pre-negotiation before formal discussions on the draft resolution and ‘negotiation after tabling’ or negotiations after the draft resolution has been put into the formal plenary.
Mr. Bautista advised that a delegate to such drafting of UN resolutions must know when to negotiate, how to lighten up and be funny, and to humanize. He emphasized that the biggest impediment to negotiatio is mistrust and that a diplomat’s first aim is to establish trust. After all, according to Mr. Bautista, “Diplomacy is like sports - you play it.”
