After 다자외교포럼 with Mr. Essy

Today I had the honor of joining a small forum with His Excellecy Mr. Amara Essy,
the 49th President of the UN General Assembly
former President of the UN Security Council (January 1990),
former Ambassador of Cote d'Ivoire to the UN
former President of the OAU (which later became the African Union)
former Foreign Minister of Cote d'Ivoire
As you can see, he has led a 'decorated' career.

Wikipedia: Amara Essy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amara_Essy

Presidents of the UN Security Council 1990-1999
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scpres1990.htm
(January 1990)

Amara Essy personal homepage
www.amaraessy.com

He told us stories of how the GA had to move their session to Geneva because the US wouldn't give Yasser Arafat a visa, and how he was hanging out with the Royal family at Buckingham Palace and found himself in jail the next day (b/c coup d'etat!), etc.

I asked him what he thinks are some qualifications that diplomats of today's world need to have, and what he would like to say to young diplomats or people aspiring to be diplomats.

This was his answer:

- be very curious: I lived in a small village, helping my parents on the field. I could have lived like that forever. I might never have gone to school if it weren't for that white person who said "You're too young to work in the fields. You should go to school." But when I was a young boy I was the Eiffel Tower in a book, and wanted to know what it was, where it was. Even after I became a diplomat, I wanted to know what was going on outside of Africa. You need to keep yourself informed. You need to remember that events happening (geographically) far away from you are not irrelevant to your life.

- be ambitious: my ambition was, and still is, how to improve the quality of life for my parents and myself (Now, for my country and the world). My ambition was not about rising in the ranks or to become a big politico. I think remembering my purpose helped me push through tough situations.

- remember that you are a 'world citizen': When I worked at the UN, I avoided hanging out with only the African group. I have been an ambassador to many countries, and thus I have friends from (literally) all over the world. Of course those experiences helped me too, but I think my intentional effort to make friends with people from Asia and Latin America helped me deal with different situations more flexibly - as the President of the GA and as an individual person.