As a group of interns (Deska, Felicia, Jess, Judea, Mia & Santie) working with UNIC Jakarta, we were thrilled with the opportunity to assist United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the second Conference of the Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Nusa Dua, Bali-Indonesia. While friends and family at home couldn't believe we'd spent six days in Bali without shopping, surfing or even getting some sun, we had the opportunity to meet a movie star, Famke Janssen (Golden Eye, X-men Trilogy), chat with delegates from around the globe, mingle with world-renowned journalists and listen to the melody of the 'Escopetarra' - an AK-47 converted into an electric guitar.
Our activities during the Conference included plastering the Conference Centre with "Anti-corruption" posters, helping press conferences run smoothly, providing information to delegates and media, assisting with the registration and accreditation of press, delegates, UN staff and representatives from NGOs and helping UNODC with paperwork and the general running of the Conference. In between all this, we managed to befriend some rather pleasant coffee shop workers and SOS doctors (six girls in one hotel room we shared everything - from hair straighteners and shampoo to a communal flu and exhaustion from late nights).
The conference also gave us the opportunity to learn more about a topic we had admittedly not given much prior thought; corruption. As interns working in Jakarta we knew that corruption was widespread in Indonesia and in other parts of the world, especially developing countries and least developed countries. However we did not realize the extent to which corruption can devastate the lives of so many individuals. Listening to the many fantastic speakers and seeing first-hand the work of UNODC increased our awareness of the importance of fighting corruption and how this can be achieved.
One of the highlights of the conference was the peer to peer media forum which brought together a group of journalists from least developed countries to participate in a media forum with international journalists like Jim Clancy (CNN) and other reputable media organizations such as the BBC and the International Press Institute. In this forum the journalists discussed the different ways they could report on corruption in their own countries and how they could do this with integrity. It was incredibly inspiring listening to journalists from countries such as Rwanda, Uganda and the Maldives who suffer violence, persecution and imprisonment as part of their everyday job. These are journalists who continue to pursue their chosen profession even if their lives are at stake. Hearing these stories made us realize the importance of freedom of the press and showing support for this essential human right.
Finally, we couldn’t possibly have had such an amazing experience at the convention without our friend, mentor and "adoptive" father, Mr. Adila Arief, UNIC Jakarta's Officer-in-Charge, who took care of us when we were sick, had us in hysterics with his jokes and taught us all we needed to know to survive an international convention.