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| Fixing the Crisis in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service: A View from a Diplomat |
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(Lanka-e-News, Dec.31, 2008, 3.20PM)Today, diplomacy is our fist line of defence in the world arena as we are faced with numerous challenges to our national interests. Unlike in the past, nation has high expectations from the Sri Lankan Foreign Service today in a highly competitive international environment. Diplomacy means our relations with the outside world as an independent nation. Therefore, diplomatic practice is an art that should be mastered thoroughly for many years in order to deal with other nations, regional and world bodies in an effective, timely, and farsighted manner.
Unfortunately, today, Sri Lanka has become a country, which produces instant diplomats, whose only qualification is relationship or affiliation to the Foreign Minister or the President of the country. As a result, today, Sri Lankan diplomats have become a set of clowns in the eyes of the international community mainly due to their sheer ignorance on at least the basics of diplomacy. Yet, despite numerous criticisms and condemnation as well as suggestions the political leadership of the country continues to appoint their henchmen to the diplomatic Missions by passing the officers of the Foreign Service, who have required experiences, expertise, and qualifications to handle any situation.
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In order to justify these unethical and unprofessional acts, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has recently "stated that the number of people qualified for these positions are inadequate to fill the number of vacancies. However the ministry has taken necessary measures to bridge these gaps. “The need to appoint persons outside the Foreign Service has arisen as there are no qualified recruits to fill in the gaps.”
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More importantly, today there are more than 75 percent of the diplomatic posts in the Sri Lankan Missions abroad have been filled by non carrier political appointees. Therefore, the diplomatic capacity of Sri Lanka has been hollowed out and our foreign affairs capacity is hobbled by a human capital crisis. There must be enough diplomatic professionals overseas and they should not remain behind the walls of fortress embassies or as humble servants of unprofessional political appointees who are nothing more than Montessori infants in the world of diplomacy.
The professionals must be equipped and trained to be out, engaged with the populace and, working closely with the host countries. Yet, the question is whether airline assistant managers, tea vendors, laundry men, egg sellers, song writers, unemployed sons of the Ministers, jobless lawyers, retired army officers, and sick old men could do something dramatically in the fast changing world of diplomacy under severe constraints and complex challenges. At the same time, mismanaging of the Foreign Ministry and the Missions abroad will continue to contribute to diplomatic failures, such as the misunderstanding by other countries of our purposes and objectives and the degeneration of relations with friendly governments.
For many, the Foreign Ministry is an institute that provides resort facilities for retired generals, defeated politicians, and political henchmen at the expenses of our national coffers at our Missions abroad. The general out cry is that revamping of the Foreign Service, deploticalization and re-structuring of the Foreign Ministry, and managing of the resources in the Ministry as efficiency as possible are the most pressing needs of the hour in order to face the new economic and political environment of the world.
In the circumstances we have reasonable doubts about whether our diplomacy is going to face successfully the challenges of the new century. These challenges are unique, not only in their nature, but also in their extent and intensity: counter-terrorism, attraction of investment, promotion of tourism, eradication of poverty, promotion of democracy, peace and security in Sri Lanka. I do not believe, however, that the present Sri Lankan Foreign Service with abundance of unprofessional political appointees will be able to play a critical role, regardless of how well staffed and funded, without a change in the concepts of our diplomatic action and an enhancement of the quality of that action. Obviously, our organizational, operational, and philosophical concepts should be adopted in order that the Foreign Service achieves the capability of fulfilling the expanded mission of our nation.
In this context, first, the concept of the ambassador and his/her role needs to be expanded. The ambassador must be the primary instrument of Sri Lankan diplomacy in the country or the international organization to which he is accredited. He must be responsible for all the diplomatic, semi-diplomatic, and pseudo-diplomatic activities in his country/international organization on behalf of Sri Lanka. As a corollary, it is of paramount importance for our ambassadors to be very fluent in the language of their host country. The same must also be applicable for the key officers in these Diplomatic Missions.
Second, the position of the Foreign Secretary as the architect of Sri Lankan foreign policy and diplomacy under the guidance of the political leadership should be re-established and re-oriented. In view of the complexity and multiple layers of foreign policy in this century this is an essential prerequisite to success.
Third, the professionalism of all levels of the Foreign Service must be enhanced. This is obviously a long term effort and it should begin at the entry level through the adoption of a program to train individuals to devote a career to the Foreign Service. It is also require to have expanded programs in professional education for Foreign Service personnel. These should ensure that the Foreign Service personnel of the future have the skills they will need. Those skills include foreign language fluency, advanced area knowledge, leadership and management ability, negotiating skills, public diplomacy, job specific functional expertise, strategic planning etc. All of these elements need to be incorporated into a comprehensive career development program for each officer.
Obvious weaknesses and actions to enhance the effectiveness of the Foreign Service are given below.
Obvious Weaknesses
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1. Weak administration.
2. Structural problems.
3. Mismanagement of resources.
4. Improper appointments in the Ministry and the Missions.
5. Misappropriation of public funds and misuse of government properties.
There are many adjustments and changes to be done if the Government wants to get best out of the Ministry. In this respect both short term and long term measures should be adopted.
In the short run:
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1. Re-structuring of the Ministry according to the contemporary international environment.
2. Appointment of suitable officers to the departments in the Ministry.
3. Appointment of the officers to the Missions, in the case of female officers without considering their sexy figures and acquaintances with seniors, according to their expertise.
4. Discontinuation of appointing of political Ambassadors. Such appointment may be made if the desired expertise is not found among the Foreign Service officers.
5. Curtailing wasteful hiring and spending practices in the Ministry and in the Missions in terms of vehicle, house and medical expenses. [Benz cars should not be given]
6. Providing of short term training programmes for Diplomatic and other officers in the Ministry and the Missions.
In the long run;
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1. Closing down of unnecessary Missions.
2. Opening of new Missions in Bahrain and Cyprus.
3. Downsizing of Embassy staff at all levels.
4. Providing of long-term training facilities for the officers.
6. Recruitment for the Foreign Service 90 percent from the local university graduates.
7. Discarding of personal interviews for selection of SLFS cadets.
8. Establishment of Diplomatic training institute in collaboration with Colombo University.
9. Introduction of Continuous Language training scheme.
10. Providing opportunities for the SLFS officers to participate in the international symposium and present papers.
11. Scheme to select clerical staff of the Ministry from the graduates and those who have high communication skills.
12. Gradual abolishing of post of typist and stenographers.
13. Curtailing of expenses on cars, house rent etc in the Missions.
For many critics the diplomatic presence in the foreign capitals in the age of instant global communication is a wasteful exercise. The question of whether or not diplomats are needed is a different issue. Yet, presence of unskilled and unprofessional "diplomats" is truly a wasting of our resources and such Missions are undoubtedly regarded as white elephants. Therefore, this is the time for the Government to think seriously about the above-mentioned issues in order to protect and promote our economic, diplomatic and strategic agendas overseas in a more realistic manner. |
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| By: A concerned Foreign Service Officer |
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