[RECAP] Annual Convention on The Global South: Global South in the Era of Pandemic: Order, Development and Security

Welcoming remarks by Dr. Riza Noer Arfani, Director of Institute of International Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada, marked the beginning of Annual Convention on the Global South/GO SOUTH 2020. This year’s GO-SOUTH brought up the theme of “Global South in the Era of Pandemic: Order, Development and Security”. The event ran for five days from 2^nd to 6^th of November 2020 and was divided into conference (2 & 3 November 2020) and panel discussion (4-6 November 2020). The opening ceremony continues with keynote speech delivered by H.E Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation of Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, H. E. Retno Marsudi.

Dr. Randy Wirasta Nandyatama (lecturer in International Relations Department of Universitas Gadjah Mada) moderated the discussion on the first day of the conference. Three speakers were present, Dr. Farish A Noor (Associate Professor of Rajatnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University), Siswo Pramono (Head of Policy Research and Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia) and Shahar Hameiri (Associate Professor, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia).

Farish began the session with his presentation on how South East Asian older generations have faced and succeeded overcoming past crises. Farish believed that this generation will certainly go past the COVID-19 crisis and overcome it, as every generation has their own experiences with crisis and undoubtedly finds solutions to tackle them. Still speaking on crisis, Siswo elaborated on Indonesia’s effort in developing bilateral and multilateral cooperation to overcome COVID-induced problems. Wrapping up the first day of the conference, Shahar challenged the foundation of global governance. He argued that the shift from government to governance and regulatory statehood in 1970s caused the current failure in tackling the virus, both at national and international level.

On the second day of the conference, IIS UGM invited three speakers, namely H.E Salman Al Farisi (Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia for South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho), Drs. Muhadi Sugiono (lecturer in International Relations Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada) and Dr. Heloise Weber (lecturer in School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland). Dr. Luqman nul Hakim (lecturer in International Relations Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada) moderated the discussion.

H.E Salman opened the second day session by delivering his speech on “The Shifting Dynamics in Africa: Indonesia’s Foreign Policy Towards the Struggling Region”. He elaborated on various Indonesia-African countries cooperation efforts, including the ones aimed at COVID-19 mitigation, namely global cooperation on vaccine development. Muhadi continued the session discussing “Covid-19 in the Perspective of Global Divide”. He explained that the global south was faced with different problems amidst the pandemic, namely: (1) zero sum policy dilemma, in which countries need to choose between priorities of public health or the economy; (2) political instability; (3) and weak bargaining position in accessing health supplies compared to northern countries. Lastly, Heloise delivered her speech on “Politics of Development and Injustices”. She brought up issues of inequality and injustice experienced by the marginalized, specifically in the context of COVID pandemic. The end of Heloise’ presentation marked the end of the conference session of GO SOUTH 2020.

IIS UGM organized four different panels in the span of three days, inviting paper presenters from local and foreign universities to elaborate on their research. On the third day, four papers discussing “National, Transnational and Regional Dynamics of the Global South in Addressing Global Pandemics” were presented in the panel, moderated by M. Indrawan Jatmika (researcher at IIS UGM).

The second panel was held the next day under the theme of “Addressing New Non Traditional Securities”. Muhammad Rum (lecturer at International Relations Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada) moderated the discussion for all three papers presented. Also held on the fourth day, the third panel discussing “Pandemic and Crafting the Global Solidarity of the Global South” presented three papers, moderated by Muhadi Sugiono (lecturer at International Relations Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada). The last panel on the fifth day presented four papers examining the theme of “Pandemic and the Changing Global Political Economy of the Global South”, moderated by Irfan Ardhani (lecturer at International Relations Department, Universitas Gadjah Mada). The end of the last panel discussion marked the end of the Annual Convention on The Global South 2020: Global South in the Era of Pandemic: Order, Development and Security.