Rosemary Banks
A career by negotiation
New Zealand's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) - Master of Arts in Russian
by Chanel Hughes
In July this year Rosemary Banks took up a role to which she has been gravitating for much of her diplomatic career, as New Zealand's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN).
Rosemary Banks presents her credentials to His Excellency Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
She joins a select group of just 18 women amongst the 191-strong membership, which includes the also recently appointed female ambassador for Latvia and Croatia.
However Banks is unfazed about being in the feminine minority, and is well accustomed to being the only woman in the room. Now 54, she has worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade since graduating from the University of Canterbury in 1975 with a Master of Arts in Russian. Among other positions with the ministry, she has been deputy high commissioner to the Solomon Islands (1985-7) and Australia (1992-5), and for the past four years, deputy secretary for multilateral affairs.
The UN has been a recurring theme in her career. Banks' first role was in the United Nations and Commonwealth Division; her first overseas experience was a six-month fellowship at the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Headquarters in Paris; and her first overseas posting was to the United Nations in Geneva. As deputy secretary, she has been responsible for all of New Zealand's United Nations-based multilateral efforts.
Going into her new role Banks has clear objectives. With the UN currently undergoing reform she wants New Zealand to make contribution s to the process, particularly in areas of importance to our government, such as peacebuilding, human rights, and the strengthening of UN management.
A second objective is to promote New Zealand candidate Sir Kenneth Keith's appointment to the Court of International Justice, which would be a Kiwi first.
“Overall I hope to continue to build on New Zealand's positive reputation at the UN, so we can use this as leverage in pursuing our national interests,” she says. A particular focus over the next four years will be oceans management and the challenges posed by over-fishing, illegal fishing, and pollution.
Banks says New Zealand's reputation at the UN has been won by the hard work and creativity of generations of ministers and multilateral diplomats.
“We are seen as constructive in the way we try to find solutions, and flexible in our ability to work with countries from all regions.
“We are not powerful as a country in conventional ways, but we can exert considerable influence through being seen as independent-minded and objective in our approach to issues.”
The reform initiative, launched in 2003 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, follows on the heels of criticism of the organisation, including from its major funders, such as the USA, and a sense of frustration shared by many countries at how the structure operates.
“The UN, by its own admission, is at a turning point in the road,” Banks says. “What we have right now is an organisation whose underlying processes and structures have remained largely unchanged throughout its 60-year history.
“The purposes of the organisation set out in its Charter are just as fresh and relevant today as ever — to protect future generations from the scourge of war, and to promote development and individual freedom. And the core values need no updating: respect for human rights and human dignity, equality, tolerance, respect for nature, the rule of law, and non-resort to the threat or use of force. What does need to change is the way the UN goes about its work and the way in which the member states support this.”
Banks says that one of the many challenges the UN faces is how it adapts its style of operation to the size of its membership, which has grown from 51 member states at its establishment in 1945 to the current 191, which can be unwieldy for decision-making.
Another problem is the growing complexity of the issues that countries are facing — “the magnitude, on a global scale, of HIV Aids for example has required the establishment of a new UN organisation to respond.”
With growing complexity comes an increasing demand for resources. “Responses to humanitarian crises often appear to be slow,” Banks says, “but that is determined by whether member states give the UN the funds and resources it needs to carry out such missions. It is easy to blame the UN when we should be looking at member states' reactions.”
An important milestone in the reform process was the September 2005 World Summit at the UN Headquarters in New York, the largest gathering of world leaders in history, which established a starting point for a number of reforms, from human rights, terrorism and peacebuilding to economic development and management.
One important outcome was the decision to establish an advisory body to be known as the Peacebuilding Commission. “This will support countries coming out of conflict and ensure a holistic and co-ordinated involvement by UN agencies.”
Banks says there will still be bumps ahead, as general commitments are translated into practical details, “but most countries are optimistic that there will be some genuine improvements and commitments to update and renew some of the creakier parts of the UN system.”
A typical day for Banks in her New York office involves a mixture of formal meetings and “behind the scenes” work. On this particular diary day, she has a breakfast meeting with Pacific Forum ambassadors to discuss counter-terrorism measures in the Pacific and the regional co-ordination of Security Council reporting obligations. Next on the agenda is an appearance before the Security Council to deliver a statement on the conclusion of the UN mission to Bougainville.
Around noon there is a call on the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs in the UN Secretariat. “Acting together as we often do, the representatives of Australia, Canada and New Zealand have, on instruction from our governments, sought a discussion on the role the UN could play in Zimbabwe.”
“In the afternoon, I dip into so-called informal consultations on how to set up a new UN human rights body, as decided at the September Summit. These ‘informal' consultations are, despite the description, quite formal. Speakers take the microphone at the Chair's invitation and deliver statements that have been carefully prepared and, in many cases, cleared with capitals.”
After that she heads for a genuinely informal consultation, a coffee in the delegates' lounge with a group of ambassadors who are meeting to discuss ways to improve the working methods of the Security Council.
There is still time after this for two calls on ambassadors — one African and one Caribbean — to promote Sir Kenneth Keith's candidacy for the International Court of Justice.
“Then it's back to the office to catch up with staff, clear away the work that has been piling up on my desk, and read the usual flood of emails. In the evening, I attend a national day reception hosted by Egypt. I set out with a checklist of the people I need to see to get particular pieces of information or to check perspectives on negotiations of special interest to New Zealand.”
Banks did not always have her sights set on a diplomatic career. It was friend and mentor Alex Lojkine, a lecturer in the University's Russian Department who encouraged her to consider the foreign service.
“He was aware that postgraduate studies in Russian did not automatically open doors and took a close interest in his students' career options. I was aware that several other students who had majored in Russian had followed this path.”
And it is a field she has clearly thrived in, excelling at times of high pressure, such as during the New Zealand government's responses to the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 and the 2002 Bali bombings.
“There is enormous satisfaction in being able to use our well-oiled systems of government to get help to where it is needed,” she says. “While stressful, these events test all systems – human resources and communications, information management, and co-ordination around the world with posts and partner countries.”
Banks has also enjoyed the quieter moments, such as the opportunity to lay the wreath on ANZAC Day at the Australian National War Memorial in Canberra when she was acting high commissioner. “This is a moment of intense symbolism in the Australia - New Zealand relationship, and of personal poignancy for me in that my father was proud to have had wartime service in the New Zealand Army.”
The only drawback Banks can identify about the life of a diplomat is the high degree of mobility. “Everything has to be portable,” she says, “partners, pets and pastimes.”
“Some people thrive on this; others grumble and carry on, and some find they are not prepared to pay the price. I am well aware that this has been a challenge for my husband, Brian Lockstone, who has been wonderfully adaptable and a constant support.
“You have to be able to hold onto the excitement and keep the disruption to your personal life in perspective. It is still a great privilege for a diplomat to represent his or her country, and everyone I know in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade feels highly motivated by this.”