We have known several big and rich countries that have gathered together in
various groups such as the G7, G8 and G20. There is also group conflict
affected countries that formed g7+. The g7+ was established by 7 countries
including Timor-Leste, a small and poor country that is located in Southeast
Asia. Today, the group has grown to 20 member States and has its headquarter in Dili,
Timor-Leste and has branch office in Lisbon - Portugal.
Some of g7+ member countries continue to experience conflict
due to various factors.
Even though, most of these countries are rich in natural resources, but they
continue to live in poverty.
Over the years, big and rich countries have provided support to g7+ countries,
however, conflict prolong which has finally led to a hunger crisis and
humanitarian crisis in the world. The fate and voice of these
countries are hardly heard at the UN General Assembly in every year.
International bodies engaged in refugees, health and food programme, as well as
international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International
Finance Corporation have been passive in bringing the voice of fragile and
conflict affected countries at the global stage. Their assistance has been
focusing on development projects not targeting resolving the source of
conflict.
Based on this reason, the g7+ is trying to find a way to advocate
for changing in the way of how normally aid was delivered to the fragile and
conflict affected countries. Therefore, the g7+ is currently seeking for permanent
observer seat at the UN headquarters so that it can represent and express the
aspirations of g7+ countries at the UN level.
Under leadership of General Secretary, Dr. Helder da Costa,
the g7+ is currently on the process to register the g7+ in the UN to get the
status of a UN permanent observer. During the seminar that was conducted by the
Faculty of Economics and Management of
UNTL on last March 18, Dr. da Costa said that "We will register the g7+ to
the UN to become a permanent observer".
He further said during the period of 2006 to 2010, there was no
any single country in the world that address the issue of peace, hunger and
poverty, which affected the fragile and conflict affected countries in the
world. Thus, g7+ appears to bring the aspirations of these countries
What is a Permanent Observer?
The position of being permanent observer is opened for all
Non-Member State of the UN including any of the specialized agencies. As an
intergovernmental organization that brings together 20 conflict affected
countries with mission to promote peacebuilding and statebuilding and has its
own Charter, the g7+ fulfills the criteria to be the permanent observer at the
UN. The benefit of becoming permanent observer is that the organization has
access to most of meetings and reports at the UN assembly. The position as
observer can be upgraded later in the future as UN to members according
practices in the past.
According to the UN Website that, there are 21 out of 72 intergovernmental
organizations who has maintained their permanent offices at the UN Headquarters.
Timor-Leste's Membership in International Organizations
Timor-Leste's
foreign policy places high priority on its relationships with neighbouring
countries including with Indonesia, Australia, the Community of Portuguese
Language Countries (CPLP) and member states of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN). Timor-Leste began its two-years presidency of the CPLP
in 2014 by prioritizing economic integration between member states as well as
joint exploration and production of oil and gas. One of Timor-Leste priorities in
foreign policy is to join ASEAN and the country has applied for ASEAN
membership in 2011 waiting for decision from ASEAN secretariat.
The work of Timor-Leste in the g7+ group is to complement
Timor-Leste's foreign policy of becoming global mediator and peacemaker by 2030
and to increase the participation of this small country in the global stage according
to, Dr. Felix Piedade the Technical Specialist at the g7+ Secretariat in Dili,
Timor-Leste. (Raimundos Oki)
