Haim Divon’s Cycling Diplomacy

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Haim Divon’s Cycling Diplomacy
By Dr. Eugenio Matos G. Honorary Associate Publisher of Diplomat Magazine, Minister Counselor, Dominican Republic Embassy, The Hague. From 7 to 9 December 2013, Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited  Israel  to launch bilateral cooperation forums with the two administrations. He was accompanied by  Frans Timmermans, Minister of Foreign Affairs,  Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Henk Kamp and by Minister of Economic Affairs who joined later on the Mission. Mr. Rutte and his companions rode on bicycles, rented by the TelAvivMunicipality along Rothschild Boulevard. They were guided to see Bauhaus-style buildings in the boulevard near the statue of late ex-mayor Dizengoff. On the picture above, behind  Mr. Rutte, is Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands H.E. Haim Divon. They also stopped to have soft drinks and coffee in one of the stands on the street. The tour ended in the Shalom building, where Mr. Rutte was exposed to a presentation of Israel’s start-up industry. Prime-Minister Rutte said that Tel Aviv is a charming city. “The combination of the people, architecture, relaxed atmosphere and the sea is simply wonderful” added Mr. Mark Rutte. When asked about the rental of bicycles by the TelAvivMunicipality, he said that in this matter he has only one message to transmit: “Keep doing it”. There is precedence to this Israeli Public Diplomacy strategy. On August, 2013, Ambassador Divon had the idea to invite some of his colleagues and close friends to join him for a bicycle tour in downtown The Hague.  Diplomat Magazine’s editor Roy Lie and photographer Robert Huiberts got this exclusive report  https://diplomatmagazine.eu/2013/09/01/cycling-diplomacy/   enhancing Israel Public Diplomacy in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. ambassadors on bike As an “adopted Dutch cyclist” it is very common for me to watch ambassadors and diplomats commuting by bike not only to work, but also to formal diplomatic receptions. The Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Eduardo Ibarrola-Nicolin, regularly bikes from his residence in Wassenaar to the Mexican Chancery on Nassauplein 28.  It is quite easy for the subscriber to spot when H.E. Dr. Alvaro Marcelo Moerzinger, Ambassador of Uruguay is around, not because of his CD license-plate on his car, but to his personal gray alloy-bike. Indeed, a new concept on International Relations has born, Cycling Diplomacy, instilled by Ambassador Divon, from the City of Peace and Justice, The Hague.  

The Language of the Body

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The Language of the Body
By John DunkelgrĂŒn.
The Ambassador of MĂ©xico, H.E. Sr. Eduardo Ibarrola opened a special exposition of drawings by the famous Mexican sculptor Jorge Marin at the Pulchri Art Society. Jorge Marin is the brother of Javier Marin, who is well known in The Hague. Introduced by Pulchri board member Kees Verschuren this small but precious collection of magic realistic drawings evoke images of the Carnaval in Venice.
Exquisitely drawn they are classical at first impression, but exude a sense of insecurity. The personajes, hiding their identity behind gorgeous masks have wings indicating an ability to fly away from it all, not wanting to be part of what is now our world. It poses the question to the viewer of whether he or she wants to be part of what is happening today. This makes the work contemporary as well as classical.
Small enough to see on your lunch-break, this boutique exposition is well worth a visit. Until January 8th, Tuesday through Sunday 11.00  ~ 17.00, but closed for the holidays from 23/12 through 3/1 .

From Queen to King in 2013

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From Queen to King in 2013

By Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice in the Court of Appeal and honorary Special Advisor International Affairs of the Municipality of The Hague.

The year 2013 was a special one: the succession to the throne. This was of course also important to the new ambassadors in The Haghe who had to present their credentials. On April 17th the new ambassador of China, H.E. Chen Xu (51), was the last ambassador who did that to Her Majesty Queen Beatrix (75), on May 8th the new ambassador of Marocco H.E. Abdelouahab Bellouki (58) was the first one to present his credentials to her eldest son, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander (46). With something new: photos have been made of every presenting of credentials since the new King took over. In 2013 all together five ambassadors in The Hague presented their credentials to the Queen and twentythree to the King. The ones that I did not yet introduce to you are H.E. Musaru Tsjui (62) from Japan on November 27th, H.E. Vestine Nahimana (50) from Burundi and H.E. Jaime Victor B. Ledda (also 50) from the Philippines on December 4th and H.E. Piragibe Dos Santos Tarrago (61) from Brasil. A warm welcome in The Hague to all of you ! All together there are now exactly one hundred ambassadors in The Hague. Above that number there are 51 countries –most of them are small ones- with an ambassador in Brussels who also are ambassador to The Netherlands, plus one in London and one in Bern. It is a pity we almost never see them in The Hague. Nine countries do have a ChargĂ© d’Affairs in The Hague who is Chef de Poste; among them remarkably the USA that already since some years has no ambassador here. In Brussels (10) and London (2) also the ChargĂ© d’Affairs is Chef de Poste also in The Netherlands. I wish all the ambassadors and their staff and families a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014 ! a.beelaerts@planet.nl  

Business as usual? A New Year, A New Approach to NGO Work

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Business as usual? A New Year, A New Approach to NGO Work
By Dr. Patrick Moriarty, Director of IRC International Water & Sanitation Centre The Hague. What needs to happen to ensure that everyone in the world has access to water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) services?

IRC - Ghana, collecting water

This question drives IRC. What value does an NGO bring to this international effort? In other words, what does a 21st century NGO look like? There is a lot of scepticism about development aid. IRC is an International NGO that works to achieve sustainable water, hygiene and sanitation services to the poorest.  Which in practice means addressing the twin challenges of meeting the needs of people who have never had a service before; but, equally important, addressing the scandalously high levels of failure in existing services. But what does this mean for IRC? As an organization of about120 people, we don’t pretend to know or be able to do it all. Indeed we believe passionately that it is the role of government (national and especially) local to lead provision of services – supported by a whole range of private and non-private actors who actually provide them. Our understanding of our own role in this is based on a broader vision of what the proper role of external agencies – especially NGOs – should be in development more generally: not as alternative service providers to those who should do the job (be that government or local private sector) – but as experimenters, energizers, drivers and catalysts of change. And that’s exactly what IRC does. We work in a number of focus countries – currently Ghana, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Honduras – where we act as a backbone to a “whole-system change process”. We bring people together who might not normally meet, we confront parties with evidence through collecting and sharing new data in new ways. With experiments at a local level, we test solutions to the different points of failure in the service delivery chain. To measure our success we develop tools that go beyond just counting infrastructure, to actually measuring the quality of service it delivers to people. Building out from our focus countries, we lobby the international community to change the behavior of donors and financiers. If assuring equitable and sustainable Water and Sanitation services at every level of society is the ultimate goal, then we need to start creating broad-based and government led coalitions to tackle deep-seated failings in current practice. Driving, catalysing and supporting such coalitions is, in our opinion, the role of a 21st century NGO. For additional information www.irc.nl   www.ircwash.org  

 

From Buonamassa’s Lens

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From Buonamassa’s Lens
Gent (Belgium) during the Christmas days. Shots from Diplomat Magazine’s photographer Walter Buonamassa. click here for more beautiful pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/98057281@N02/sets/

Exotic Invaders at the Hofvijver

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Exotic Invaders at the Hofvijver
By Catherine Kailey. One of the side benefits of travel is a heightened acuity to one’s own environment after having returned from a trip, whether it be it near or far.  For those of us who find ourselves living away from our country of birth for many years, “adaption” eventually gives way to assimilation.  In my case, the city of assimilation, and residence, is The Hague.   Soon, we may conclude that “home”, wherever it may have been, is no longer “home”, as we have become mere sojourners in a once familiar, but now increasingly foreign, land. Simultaneously, we have successfully adapted to our new environment. While walking my dog along the Havenkade by Westbroek Park, in recent years, I’ve often noticed a streak of exotic lime green flashing past from above accompanied by a din of excited squawking.  Local birdlovers, like me, immediately recognize the distinctive sounds and colors of the Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) or  Halsbandparkiet, as it is known in Dutch. Were it not for a delightful visit to the Malaysian city of Melacca (Melaka) which is well known for its historic Dutch colonial city center and, since 2008, has been listed as an UNESCO world heritage site; I would never had thought to consider that the Rose-ringed Parakeet has also settled in The Hague as an alien. This tropical bird, to use the formal Dutch term, is an “Exoot” or exotic and is native to northeast Africa and southeast Asia. Melacca’s historic 17th C. Stadthuys on the Crimson Square, is certainly worth visiting, but a riverside  “slaapboom” or sleeping tree, is what really captivated my attention during my visit to the city.  Thousands of local parrots can be observed descending nightly upon an “Avatar” like tree at dusk for a communal ritual of sleeping safely together amongst the branches of a stately old sleeping tree in the old city center.  Some months later, after having returned home to Scheveningen, I mistook the first pair of  Rose-ringed Parakeets that I saw darting amongst the trees at the park, for successful caged escapees, only to later learn that there several “colonies” have taken up residence in Dutch urban areas and one of the largest colonies, numbering some 5,000 birds, is to be found in The Hague.  Naturally, I was eager to learn where their “sleeping tree” was located and was amused to discover that they have taken up residence at the Binnenhof or, to be more precise, on the “island” in the Hofvijver—in front of  the prime minister’s “little tower.” These “feathered foreign invaders” may not be “angry birds”, but in the eyes of a few concerned caretakers of  “monumental trees”, naturalists and government officials; their presence in the community is increasingly unappreciated.  In an article written last February 13th, Boudewijn Revis (city caretaker), announced that 6 of the 25 chestnut trees along the Hofvijver have been so damaged by the birds that they must be cut down and removed.  Further, the independent Advice Council on Monumental Trees (Adviesraad Monumentale Bomen) has labeled the damaged trees a “safety risk.” It would seem that the Rose-ringed Parakeets days at the Hofvijver may be numbered.  If, and when, their trees are removed, they will be forced to migrate elsewhere.  According to SOVON, the Dutch Center for Field Orinthology, an organization which actively monitors and counts wild bird populations for in developing nature management policies, management plans and spatial planning, some 10,000 Rose-ringed parakeets residing in major urban areas around the Randstad.  In addition to The Hague, they have been observed in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden and Leiderdorp and they  have a known range of up to 30 km from their “sleeping tree” so the hope may be that by removing the trees; the undesired winged “kraakers” will be forced move on so that peace and tranquility will return to the little island in the Hofvijver.

Cuba : Example of Resistance and Solidarity.

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Cuba : Example of Resistance and Solidarity.
By Zelmys Maria Dominguez Cortina, Ambassador of Cuba to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Each January 1st marks the anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution – that in 1959, put end to one of the bloodiest dictatorships of Latin America. The will of the Cuban people of ruling their own destiny became the main source of conflict with the powerful neighbor of the North, the United States of America, which believes that Cuba should be forever their backyard, as part of the written destiny for the Biggest Island of the Antilles. However, Cuba followed the ideas of the Cuban National hero Jose Marti, by creating a sovereign anti-discriminatory project of political, economic and social system, based in the respect of all the rights of any human being; developing the capacities and potential of the population in order to build a better society. Cuba also condemns all interventionist and discriminatory political manner in international relations, as well as the threat or the use of force, unilateral coercive measures, aggression and all forms of terrorism; including State terrorism. The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba condemns any type of discrimination for reasons of race, creed or opinion. The Cuban Revolution resisted for more than 50 years the blockade of United States towards Cuba. Every year at the General Assembly of United Nations the overwhelming majority of the countries of the world votes in favor of the draft resolution presented by Cuba entitled “Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial, and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.” Since its very conception, the blockade has been and it is a flagrant violation of International Law and is contrary to the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and constitutes a violation of the right to peace, development and security of a sovereign State. Given its stated purpose and the complex political, legal and administrative structure on which it is based, the blockade qualifies as an act of genocide under the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. The blockade has proven to be the main obstacle for Cuban economic and social development, the largest hindrance for expanding Cuba’s commercial ties with the rest of the world, and has become a serious restraint for the international cooperation that the country both provides and receives. Nevertheless, the Cuban people not only showed during all their years their capacity of developing a successful system, but also supported other countries of the world, with doctors, professors, and technicians in many fields. The well known solidarity of the Cuban people to others all over the world is a great example of the victory of the Cuban project and the support of the people to the historical leaders of our Revolution. Cuba is not isolated. It has diplomatic relations with 190 countries, orders and institutions (184 UN member and 6 do not). It has 148 locations abroad in 120 countries, including 119 embassies, 1 section of interests, 21 consulates general, 3 offices, diplomatic representatives and 3 representations to international organizations. On 5 January, 2014 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands Frans Timmermans will visit Cuba, as a new important step towards the improvement of the bilateral relations, which also follows the positive trend of EU towards Cuba. It is a matter of joy each anniversary of victories as a new step for a better world, because in Cuba, we believe that a better world is possible and we try to build it every day.

The Hague Political Academy

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The Hague Political Academy

Presents

New Courses for Diplomats Spring 2014

After the success of the first course in October – November the Academy organises five different modules in order to familiarize foreign diplomats and expats with the Dutch society and politics. Course supervisor is Dr.  Bob van den Bos, political scientist and former member of the Dutch and European Parliament. Also several distinctive guest speakers will share their knowledge and experience with the participants. Every participant will receive a certificate of attendance.

Programme

The  sessions will take place from 5.15 pm until 7.30 pm at Prinsevinkenpark 24 The Hague.

Module 1 Dutch Domestic Politics                                                           April, 7, 9,10

Module 2 How to deal with the Dutch and Diplomatic Protocol        April, 14, 16

Module 3 Dutch foreign and European Policy                                        May, 5, 7

Module 4 European policy                                                                          May, 19, 21

Module 5 The role of the media                                                                 June 2, 4

Subscription is possible for a single module or for a combination of several modules. Contact: Mr Boy Frank, Course manager, boy.b.frank@gmail.com or 06 23450937. Participation fees and other details will be published in the next issues of Diplomatic Magazine.

Web address:  http://www.thehaguepoliticalacademy.nl

 

Society Lunch

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Society Lunch
By Drs. Eva Maria Elisabeth Mennes. Twice a year, in June and in December you can experience a completely different type of party than you normally go to in or around The Hague. The Society Lunch is strictly on personal invitation only. Twenty eight years ago the ‘dassenkoning’  or ‘king of ties’ Tony Tetro together with the charming and famous Society journalist Barbara Plugge of The Telegraph initiated this most extrovert party. The organsation is in the hands of Mrs. Annette Wijdom, the owner of FAFA International Show dances and Star Academy. Her showgirls welcomed with sweet beauty and dressed like little angels the guests and performing artists.  
This time the Society Lunch was hosted by the Hilton Hotel Rotterdam and all drinks, delicious snacks and buffet lunch were completely sponsored by the best and most well known shops for fancy people who enjoy life and are not ashamed of it. At the Society Lunch you can find ministers as well as artists and  people from the show business. The Dutch Diana Ross is always present and also performs from time to time. The motto of this year’s party was ‘Silver bells Christmas’. The winter edition is further enhanced with an award, which is sponsored every year by the sculptor Juliette van Bavel and handed over by Tony Tetro to two well known persons of the society. Different singers enjoyed performing for their many friends. Everybody tried to look dashing and it could not be more Holiday season. The summer edition in june will have the theme ‘The great Gatsby’ and the direction of The Wittenburg Castle, Ralf Meppelder and his excellent crew will host the event: a guaranty that the next Society Lunch will be an even greater success.  

Nane Lagerwev, Top-10 Dutch Golf Player

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Nane Lagerwev, Top-10 Dutch Golf Player

In Golf we Trust or Lost in delirium on hole 9.

By NanĂ© Lagerwey, top-10 golf player in the Netherlands, former expat and MA in English literature. The golf and country club is the perfect place to meet your future ex-partner. Finally you meet a great person who plays golf as well, yet after a couple of years – and rounds that is – one argues fanatically about birdies and bogeys. Caddies meddle with others, rather than with the player he is responsible for. Golfclubs are being smashed around, whilst one’s backswing is getting distracted. A 3-wood has been put deliberately on the ground to stumble over it on hole 7. Bunkers are everywhere in play from the ladies’ backtees, just to prevent them from outdriving men. All of the above might have happened during national tournaments. Or even during a fun game at a local golf club. Disaster and delirium is what one experiences when you bring a partner along simultaneously when you should put your heart and soul into the game. At times, whilst reading the green I could think that “I can’t think straight anymore”. A thought like this often results into a 5-putt! Once bitten twice shy, since in the afternoon I did make exactly the same 5-putt again. My competitors play beautifully. Not only do they bring bananas, but also their fathers to the course. One father is more fanatic than the other, who promised his daughter an Imac if she keeps the bogeys from her scorecard. They are screaming as if their daughter’s golf game resembles the Ryder Cup. Girls shooting above 80 burst into tears; beautiful ingredients for a soup of the day, which is being served in the clubhouse restaurant. It is a shame that playing golf in Holland can sometimes be a nuisance when not the players but the ones around you take everything too seriously. When I lived abroad, in Europe and in Asia, golf was being played the way the game has been designed and intended. Overseas, people are proud of talented young players. One does not utter abbreviations, e.g P and S, but the irons are called by their highly respected names, i.e pitching-and sandwedge. One does not ‘walk’ 9 holes, but one ‘plays’. After a game of golf we dress in tenue de ville, instead of jeans and t-shirts. Golf is a gentleman’s game with etiquette, traditions and sportsmanship. This should be taken into account, but above all we need to enjoy it. Hit the ball, keep focus and drink espresso as undisturbed as possible.      
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