By Anton Lutter. The 27-29 March a conference was organised by Special Branch of Nahdlatul Ulama for the Netherlands, the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia and the Vrije Universiteit in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy at The Hague and Persatuan Pemuda Muslim se-Eropa (Indonesian Young Muslims Association in Europe), taking place in Amsterdam and The Hague. ‘Rethinking Indonesia’s Islam Nusantara’: From Local relevance to Global Significance’ was the lead theme of the conference. This conference is the first ever on this topic to be organised outside Indonesia and involved speakers and participants from many different countries. Indonesia is the most populous country in the world, and located far beyond the traditional centres of Islam such as Mecca and Egypt, Indonesia has developed its unique characteristics being the fusion of religion with local custom.

Islam Nusantara as mentioned in the conference opening remarks by the Indonesian Ambassador to The Netherlands I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja “gives respect to local culture and is tolerant, inclusive and compassionate. Thus Islam Nusantara can be identified as a moderate Islam, that can contribute to global stability and peace”. An array of interesting academic speeches was given by – amongst others- Prof. Dr Jaap Winter, of Vrije Univesiteit Amsterdam; Prof. Dr Phil. Kamaruddin, MA, director-general of Islamic Education in Jakarta; Ahmad Baso, author of  The Intellectual Origins of Islam Nusantara. The closing remarks were by Prof. Dr. Karel Steenbrink from Utrecht University who gave an oversight of the development of Islam in Indonesia. Wednesday the H.E. I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, hosted a Gala Night with classical Indonesian dance and music. The guests included the Indonesian ambassadors in Algeria, Azerbeidzjan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia who were the amongst the co-signatories of the joint declaration on Islam Nusantara.  

Pictured  Mr. Steven van Hoogstraten, Lindy Melman ( BRILL), prof. Nico Schrijver (Leiden U), judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (ICJ), Anneleen de Jong and  Otto Spijkers.   By Sheila Turabaz. The Peace Palace Library and the Carnegie Foundation organized a book launch, entitled ‘The Art of Making Peace; Lessons Learned from Peace Treaties’ on March 20 at the Peace Palace. Mr. Steven van Hoogstraten, former Director-General of the Carnegie Foundation, Professor of Public International Law at Leiden University Mr. Nico Schrijver, Mr. Otto Spijkers and Ms. Anneleen de Jong are the authors who have contributed to this book. ‘The Art of Making Peace; Lessons Learned from Peace Treaties’ is the reflection of a conference on the theme of peace-making held at the Peace Palace in 2013 during its centenary year. As the title says, the book focuses on peace agreements, such as The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 (that marked the end of the First World War), the Dayton Agreement of 1995 (which meant the end of the war in Yugoslavia) the Darfur Agreement of 2006 (contributing to peace in the Sudan) and the complex situations that arose during the Iran – Iraq War and the Kuwait – Iraq War. In addition, the book also offers an analysis regarding the role of dispute settlement by the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration as opposed to political mediation between states with the assistance of a third party. Additional Kim Vermaat’s pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157682048673165

The book presentation included a speech by Mr. Van Hoogstraten, in which he mentioned the Treaty of Versailles and what Article 14 of the Treaty has meant for the growth of The Hague as a City of International Justice in particular: “Article 14 of the Treaty of Versailles stated that the Council of the to be created “League of Nations” would prepare a draft for a Permanent Court of International Justice.” This resulted in the League of Nations settling in the premises of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Furthermore, he mentioned that “the dedication of the Peace Palace to the maxim “Peace through Law” could not be better expressed than through the words and deeds of the international judges. And since World War 2, this dedication has been shown for 70 years now by the International Court of Justice, and on an ever-continuing basis by the arbiters of the PCA”. The first copy of the book was handed to Vice President and Judge H.E. Mr. Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf who accepted the book on behalf of the International Court of Justice. Judge Yusuf enthusiastically accepted the first copy and continued with a speech, in which he mentioned the importance of this book: “I come from a country that has not known peace for the past 27 years – Somalia –, so peace making is not only a personal occasion on me as a judge of the ICJ because that’s part of our work, it is also a constant concern to me, a daily concern, because of my background”. Moreover, Judge Yusuf stated that “the nature of peace agreements do not mutually resolve all problems, but at least they create an atmosphere in which there is communication (…), it is in response to that mixed success of peace agreements, that this book tries to extract the lessons learned from past peace agreements that could be extracted to resolve future conflicts”.

H.E. Judge Mr. Ronny Abraham, President of the International Court of Justice, H.E. Judge Mr. Dalveer Bhandari, H.E. Mr. Philippe Couvreur, Registrar of the Court and other dignitaries were among those present at the book launch. Afterwards, many guests attended the annual Shabtai Rosenne Memorial Lecture, which also took place in the Academy Building of the Peace Palace. Read more via the follow link: https://diplomatmagazine.eu/2017/03/22/sixth-shabtai-rosenne-memorial-lecture/.

 

Diplomat Magazine achieved a record of 65 (sixty five) top class diplomatic events since June 23th, 2013, when it was launched by the diplomatic corps and the Mayor of The Hague at Carlton Ambassador Hotel. The most recent Diplomats Meet & Greet was successfully held at Carlton Ambassador last March 9th with an outstanding success in terms of quantity  of diplomats and heads of mission present. This time it was exclusively reserved for the diplomatic community. As the very first diplomatic magazine in the Netherland´s history, Diplomat Magazine was created with the purpose to enhance diplomat´s visibility and quality of life in The Hague.

On the picture H.E. Dr. Kaire Mbuende Ambassador for Namibia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. By Roy Lie A Tjam. H.E. Dr. Kaire Mbuende Ambassador for Namibia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, residing in Brussels, came to The Hague to celebrate his country’s 27th independence anniversary. Ambassador Mbuende had special reasons to come to The Hague, reminiscing of the unwavering support the Southern African Committee and the Anti-Apartheid Committee, two Dutch entities, rendered Namibia during the dark days of her struggle for Independence. For addition Roy Strik’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157678658228144

The venue chosen for the celebration was Pulchri Studio The Hague on Tuesday 21 March 2017. Besides the Ambassadors and diplomats who came to felicitate Ambassador Mbuende, there were also other guests such as: academics, businessmen, and international judges along with friends of Namibia. In his welcome address, H.E. Dr. Kaire Mbuende stated the following: “it was in this city, during the dark days of our struggle for independence where the International Court of Justice, ICJ gave an Advisory Opinion forty-six years ago, in 1971, that declared that the presence of the South African administration in Namibia illegal. It took another nineteen years, however, before the people of Namibia could attain their freedom and independence on 21st March 1990. By celebrating our independence here today, we underscore the importance we attach to multilateralism. We are committed to working towards global common good.”

Dr. Mbuende continued, “It is gratifying to observe that the efforts of the people of Namibia with the generous support of the international community brought about a dispensation in our country that we all can be proud of. Namibia is a stable, peaceful and democratic country. The country made steady economic progress and it is today classified as an upper middle-income country. It is not all rosy; however, we face many challenges as a country. The greatest of them all is poverty. The President of Namibia declared war against poverty upon assuming office two years ago, and introduced multiple strategies to combat poverty including a blue-print, Harambee Prosperity Plan.” Ambassador Mbuende concluded by stating, “We are optimistic that the war against poverty can be won but it requires collective efforts as was the case with the struggle for independence. The global frameworks for development such as the SDGs and the Addis Ababa Action Plan can contribute to poverty eradication. However, we believe that the lasting solution lies in overcoming the structural weakness of our economy through domestic and foreign investments, trade and transfer of technology leading to economic diversification. There are abundant investment opportunities in sectors such as agro-processing, mining and quarry, and tourism.”

Prof. Dr. Heino Falcke, Professor of Astroparticle Physics and Radio Astronomy at theRadboud University in Nijmegen was present at the reception and made an interesting statement about Namibia. He stated: “Namibia has very clear skies and it is located such that the very center of the Milky Way passes almost right overhead. The center of the Milky Way is the point all stars in our galaxy, including the sun, will rotate around in the course of 200 Million years! We have very good evidence that in this very center we have a supermassive black hole, called Sagittarius A*. Note, there are other galaxies in the universe with even bigger black holes, but they are much further away.” Falcke continued, “Furthermore, in Southern Africa you have a beautiful view of the Milk Way. However, if you stand at the most southern point of Namibia and you pick the right time of the night, the center of the Milky Way and this Black Hole will be almost exactly above you. In that sense, Namibia is a very special place for us.”

All in all, quoting the lyrics of Namibia’s national anthem, the contrasting beautiful Namibia, land of savannahs has made an excellent debut into the diplomatic community of The Hague, the international city of peace and justice. Bravo Namibia!                              

Pictured Ambassador H.E Sheikh Mohammed Belal and spouse Dr Dilruba Nasrin. By Roy Lie A Tjam. In observance of the 46th Anniversary of Independence and National Day, the Bangladesh Embassy in the Netherlands hosted a reception at Bangladesh House on 27 March 2017. The red carpet was rolled out as a symbol of Bangladeshi hospitality, and two sides of the entrance were adorned with colourful flowers and banners to introduce the guests to Beautiful Bangladesh. Guests appreciated the decoration of the place, and many of them were seen taking pictures with the giant flag of Bangladesh made of flowers. For additional Marian van Noort’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157681988145685

Ambassador H.E Sheikh Mohammed Belal and spouse Dr Dilruba Nasrin welcomed the guests. The reception was attended by members of the International Judiciary, Dutch civil servants, academics, friends of Bangladesh, expatriate Bangladeshis, diplomats and Ambassadors, among them ambassadors from Yemen, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica, Slovakia. The official part of the reception included the playing of national anthems of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. After warmly welcoming his guests, Ambassador Belal delivered an address, in part this is what he said:

Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal paid profound tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose dynamic and visionary leadership led Bangladesh to her independence in 1971. He also recalled the supreme sacrifices made by the bravest sons and daughters of our soil to win the independence. Terming Bangladesh as a development surprise, Ambassador Belal highlighted the recent socio-economic achievements of the country.

“Bangladesh is truly enjoying an exciting time in terms of her development journey”, Ambassador Belal added and the urged the Dutch businesses to be a part of it. He also congratulated the Bangladeshi diaspora living in the Netherlands for their contributions in promoting economic and commercial relations between the two friendly countries. Ambassador mentioned that Bangladesh and the Netherlands are enjoying excellent bilateral relations which have been further deepened following the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Netherlands at the invitation of Dutch Prime Minister.

The Director of Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter Potman, represented the Dutch Foreign Minister Mr Bert Koenders in the event. Peter Potman, in his speech, highly appreciated Bangladesh’s socio-economic development in the recent times and reassured continued Dutch support for Bangladesh’s development in the coming years. He echoed Ambassador Belal in recommending Bangladesh as a trade and investment destination of the Netherlands. Guests enjoyed an evening of Bangladeshi hospitality, music, food, and networking.    

A round table discussion with DG Agriculture, The Netherlands and Ladies Ambassadors in The Hague

By A. Rangarajan. The meeting and working luncheon of Ladies Ambassadors in The Hague was hosted by H.E. Mrs. Rahma Salih Elobied, Sudan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands at her residence in The Hague. The Guest of honour was Mrs. Marjolijn Sonnema, Director General of Agro and Nature, Ministry of Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. H.E Ms. Irene F. Mkwawa Kasyanju, the Tanzanian ambassador to the Netherlands and  President of the Association of Ladies Ambassadors accredited to the Netherlands was present and was providing leadership the group. Opening the proceedings, H.E. Mrs.Rahma Salih Elobied, welcomed the guests gathering and thanked the ambassadors present for attending in good numbers . She alluded to the warmth of the atmosphere, when pointing to the fine sunny afternoon on the occasion of the lunch. Speaking next as president of the group, H.E Ms Irene F. Mkwawa Kasyanju spoke about the purposefulness of the group’s regular meeting and on this particular occasion she extended a special welcome to ladies ambassadors from Vietnam and Cuba who were recently posted and were attending the group’s meeting for the first time. She also mentioned that total number of ladies ambassadors now accredited to the Netherlands was now an impressive 33. This was followed by Mrs. Marjolijn Sonnema, who outlined her organisation’s work within in the Ministry of Economic Affairs – ‎Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. Amongst other things, she pointed to the principle of golden triangle which lay at the heart of the Netherlands becoming an agricultural powerhouse (second to the US) as a successful partnership between private sector, the public sector and academic institutions. Her directorate’s work also involved co-ordinating EU legislation on Parks and nature reserves. Mrs Sonnema, then appraised the gathering on the changing trends in the agricultural sector and concerns going beyond more and intense production to UN Sustainable Development Goals. This involved animal welfare, humane farms, organic farming and control of pollution as a fallout from intense agricultural practices and adopting climate smart agriculture as a way for future. She mentioned that there were 42 country missions attached to the Ministry of Agricultural work. What followed was a lively and intense discussion, with some ambassadors wanting to know how their countries could join these missions in the Agriculture Ministry. Yet others described the special challenges faced by their countries’ agricultural sectors when it comes to increasing the revenue share with respect to exports to the EU. Many saw possibilities of fruitful cooperation between the Netherlands Agricultural ministry and their respective countries agricultural sector. —- Attended, H.E. Ms. Adia Sakiqi, Ambassador of Albania, H.E. Ms. Dziunik Aghajanian, Ambassador of Armenia, H.E. Mrs. Heidemaria Gürer, Ambassador of Austria, H.E. Ms. Vestine Nahimana, Ambassador of Burundi, H.E. Ms. Odette Melono, Ambassador of Cameroon, H.E. Ms. Sabine Nölke, Ambassador of Canada, H.E. Ms. Andrea Gustović-Ercegovac, Ambassador of Croatia, H.E. Ms. Jana Reinišová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E. Ms. Soraya Elena Alvarez Nuñez, Ambassador of Cuba, H.E. Ms. Rose Makena Muchiri, Ambassador of Kenya, H.E. Ms. Vjosa Dobruna, Ambassador of Kosovo, H.E. Mrs. Ilze Ruse, Ambassador of Latvia, H.E. Ms. Janet Lowe, Ambassador of New Zealand, H.E. Ms Rosa Maria Bettencourt Amarante de Ataíde Batoréu Salvador e Brito, Ambassador of Portugal, H.E. Mrs. Brândușa Predescu, Ambassador of Romania, H.E. Ms. Rahma Salih Elobied Salih, Ambassador of The Sudan, H.E. Mrs. Irene F. M. Kasyanju, Ambassador of Tanzania, H.E. Ms. Mirjam Blaak Sow, Ambassador of Uganda, H.E. Mrs. Sahar Mohammed Abduljabbar Ghanem, Ambassador of Yemen, Ms. Abir Ali, Chargé d’affairs of Lebanon and H. E. Mrs. Ngo Thi Hoa, Ambassador of Vietnam. —- Photography by Janne Gerritsen.  

On the picture Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, Apostolic Nuncio, Ambassador Aida Luz Santos de Escobar and the Mayor of Almere, Mr Franc Weerwind. Unveil Bust of Monsignor Oscar Romero by the Embassy of El Salvador and the Salvadoran Community in the Netherlands. A bust of Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was unveiled on March 24 2017, as part of the commemoration of the XXXVII anniversary of the martyrdom of the most universal of Salvadorans as well as the thirty-third anniversary of the gesture of friendship that the Government of the Kingdom of The Netherlands had with a group of Salvadoran in 1984, when a new opportunity of life was given through political asylum. The unveiling ceremony was presided over by the Mayor of Almere, Franc Weerwind and the Ambassador of El Salvador, Her Excellency Mrs Aida Luz Santos de Escobar.

The group of Salvadorans settled since 1984 in the city of Almere, where from that time, they made their new place to live next to their children and more recently their grandchildren. In this city, they not only became Dutch citizens, with their different customs and traditions, but also saw their generations grow, adopting the principles and values ​​that this country offered them. From those circumstances come the special feeling of gratitude towards the city of Almere and its people. The unveiling of the bust of Monsignor Romero also served as a stage to pay special tribute to the memory of a group of Dutch journalists who, in the context of the armed conflict, died in El Salvador in 1982. In her intervention, Ambassador Santos de Escobar expressed “Today is a day of joy not just for El Salvador but also for many nations that permanently look for justice. The memory of Monsignor Romero led the United Nations to declare every March 24 the International day of truth, to keep alive the memory of the victims that have suffered human rights violations and to pay tribute to those who have dedicated their lives to promote and protect human rights” Within the framework of the strengthening of bilateral relations, the unveiling of the bust made possible to renew the ties of friendship between the peoples and governments of El Salvador and the Netherlands, a gesture made by the Ambassador of El Salvador, Aida Luz Santos de Escobar, to the Director of the Latin American Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mr. Matthis Wolters. The bust of Monsignor Romero was installed in the surroundings of financial center of Almere and was supported by different organizations who promote art, culture and social work, such as Cultuurfonds of Almere, Vastenactie, Lions Club Almere Veritas, Boogaart-Almere, among others. It is hoped that the image of Monsignor Romero will give new generations the knowledge of the work of Monsignor Romero in favor of justice and peace for El Salvador. The bust is an Artwork made in bronze by the Dutch sculptress Paulina Martin de Kreij, who in the artistic process of elaboration, facilitated and included young entrepreneurs and art students from the city of Almere, with the intention of promoting creativity , dedication and talent for art and culture.