Resume
Benny Widyono, Ph.D, (Econ.)
Email: bennywidyono@aol.com
Recipient of the title of Commandeur de l’Ordre Royal du Sahametrei,
the Highest-class civilian medal of Cambodia
By Royal Decree of His Majesty the King of Cambodia, 25 October 2001
Former Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cambodia, 1994-97 ret.
Former Special Adviser to the UN Ambassador of Indonesia, 1997-2001 and Cambodia
2002-2003
Professional Experience
After Retirement
From August 2006 to present
Adjunct Professor, Economics, University of Connecticut, Stamford, Academic Year
2006-2007
From March 2003 – May 2006
- Visiting Fellow at the Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Writing my memoir about my work in
Cambodia as a UN Peacekeeper and Envoy 1992-97 and speaking at seminars,
teachers training and staff development programs and in classes on Peacekeeping,
Humanitarian affairs and the Security Council of the United Nations and on Genocide
and Human rights in Cambodia. .
From September 2002 - February 2003:
Special Adviser to the Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations.
From May 1997 - December 2001:
- Special Adviser to the Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations,
New York.
- Adviser to the Chairman of the Group of 77 to the United Nations, the largest
coalition of developing countries in the UN, 1998.
- Representative of GANDI, the Indonesian Movement for Anti-Discrimination, in
the World Conference Against Discrimination, Johannesburg South Africa 2001 and
in follow-up activities in New York to the conference.
- Occasional Consultant to United Nations ESCAP in Bangkok for aid programs in
Cambodia and Myanmar, 1998-2000.
In the United Nations, from November 1963 to May 1997:
April 1994 - May 1997
Diplomacy and Peace Building: Representative of the UN Secretary- General in
Cambodia. Served as the UN “Ambassador" (Political Representative) to the Government
of Cambodia. I was the primus inter pares among the UN representatives in Cambodia.
The main thrust of this assignment are to maintain a dialogue with the government of
Cambodia, to monitor and report to the Secretary General on developments in the
political and security situation in Cambodia in the post UNTAC ( United Nations
Transitory Authority) period in order to contribute in ensuring that the gains of the
successful elections organized by UNTAC are consolidated.
April 1992 - 1993
Governance and Peace Keeping: From April 1992 through the end of September
1993, as part of the UNTAC Peacekeeping operation in Cambodia serving as "coGovernor" with the Cambodian governor for Siemreap, Cambodia, at that time the most
volatile province with the largest number of Khmer Rouge guerrillas. The main thrust of
this assignment was to control and supervise the Existing Cambodian Provincial
Administration with the objective to ensure a neutral political environment conducive to
free and fair elections.
November 1963 - April 1992
1)
Research and Multilateral Diplomacy on Economic Development and
International Business
2)
Business Development: organizing workshops and lecturing in Asia
and Latin America on international business practices..
Serving the UN in various capacities: in New York, first as Deputy Chief for
Technical Cooperation in the UN Center on Transnational Corporations (CTC)
where I organized and taught at workshops on strengthening the Negotiating
Skills of Developing Countries in their dealings with Multinational or
Transnational Corporations in developing countries all over the world including
Suriname, Curacao, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Philippines, and
Singapore, and later as Director, Regional Commissions New York Office,
representing all five Regional Commissions (ESCAP, ECLAC, ECE, ESCWA
and ECA) covering the entire world; in Bangkok, Thailand (UN ESCAP) 14 years
doing research on economic development issues for the Asian region and in
Santiago, Chile (UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean), two and a half years (1995-77) to do economic research comparing
experiences with multinational corporations in basic commodities in Latin
America to Asia including tin, bauxite, tropical hardwoods and bananas.
Government of Indonesia:
1973 - 1975
Planning and Governance Government of Indonesia: As a staff member of UN
ESCAP, I was seconded for limited periods of up to three months as UNDP adviser to the
Chairman of the National Development Planning Board, Government of Indonesia
(BAPPENAS).
Teaching Experience outside the UN:
1997- May 2006
Occasional speaker at seminars, workshops and in classes at Cornell University
for various groups on reform in the United Nations, Genocide in Cambodia, Peace
building and peacekeeping, including SEAP (the Southeast Asia Program), CIPA
(Cornell Institute for Public Administration) the Peace Studies Program, Einaudi
Center, Camelbreeders and for seminars for High School teachers and the Ithaca
community..
Occasional Lecturer on the UN’s role in peace and security at the Learning in
Retirement Program , Elder Hostel Program of the University of Sacred Heart,
Stamford, CT and the World Affairs Forum, Stamford, Ct.
1963 - 1979
Guest lecturer at the University of Chulalongkorn in Bangkok in the Annual
Economic Development Course in the ESCAP region.
1961 - 1963
Teaching Assistant/ Instructor in Introductory Economics, University of Texas.
Specific Lectures and Presentations:
Lecture, "The Price Paid for Being Neutral in the Cold War: A Comparison of
the Fates of Sukarno and Sihanouk1," Cornell University Southeast Asia Program,
October 23, 2003.
Symposium Speaker, "Landmines: Clearing the Path, Empowering the Victims,"
Washington College of Law at American University, April 6, 1999.
Discussant, International Symposium on the Culture of Prevention versus the
Culture of Intervention”, Tokyo, Japan 2000.
Workshop Organizer for various United Nations workshops on negotiations
between governments of developing countries with transnational corporations in Beijing,
Philippines, India, Suriname, Kuala Lumpur, and Costa Rica.
Policy Forum Discussant, "What Lessons From Cambodia Are Still Relevant
Today?" International Peace Academy, New York, November 4, 2002.
Speaker, "Cambodia: Is it Finally at Peace?" Cornell University Southeast Asia
Program, April 1, 1999.
International Workshop Participant, Winning the Peace: Concept and Lessons
Learned of Post-Conflict Peace building, Research Institute for International Affairs,
Berlin, July 1996.
Speaker on “Lessons learned from Cambodia”, Camelbreeders , an Informal
Discussion Group of professors and graduate students on world affairs, Cornell
University, April 19 2006. This meeting was attended by 55 students and professors from
all disciplines on the Cornell Campus.
Publications:
Book in progress: Memoirs of my five years in Cambodia as a UN Peacekeeper
and Peace Envoy. To be published worldwide by Rowman Littlefield in July 2007.
During my career in the United Nations, 1963 to 1997, I wrote hundreds of
reports and position papers on the Economic Development in Asia and Latin America
and on the Peace process in Cambodia, However, according to United Nations rules, I
could not publish under my own name. Hence my dearth of publications.
“Tolerance and Discrimination: The Chinese Ethnic Minority in Southeast Asia”
presented to the Workshop on Discrimination against Chinese at the 2001 World
Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,
Durban, South Africa.
1
Sukarno was the first Indonesian President and a key figure in the fight for Indonesian
independence. Sihanouk is the King of Cambodia.
Articles on the discrimination of and violence targeting the ethnic Chinese in
Indonesia2 published by the World Huaren Federation, including: “An Analysis of the
Implication of Suharto's resignation for Chinese Indonesians,” May 28, 1998; “An
Anatomy of the Recent Anti Ethnic-Chinese Riots in Indonesia” (March 20, 1998).
Articles on the Indonesian financial crisis published by journals in Indonesia.
Articles on the Indonesian economy published by the University of Indonesia,
Cornell University, and Australian National University.
Articles on economic development issues, in particular, dealing with relationship
between transnational corporations and host governments published in books and journals
in ECLAC, Santiago, New Delhi and ESCAP, Bangkok.
Articles on Cambodia and on Post Conflict Peace Building published by the
Cambodian Institute for Peace and Cooperation and in the Bulletin of Ceria
(Switzerland).
Age
69. Born on October 16, 1936
Nationality
Indonesian, permanent resident of the US..
Marital states
Married with four children
Education
B.A. in Industrial Economics, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.
M.A. in Economics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
Ph.D. in Economics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas. My
dissertation topic was : Petroleum and Economic Development: A
comparative Study of Mexico and Indonesia.
Languages
2
Indonesian/Malaysian, English, Dutch, Spanish, Thai also some
knowledge of German, French, Chinese, Laotian and Khmer
(Cambodian).
I wrote some of my articles on the ethnic Chinese situation in Indonesia under a pen name,
Michael Ocorandi., for fear of punishment by Indonesian authorities.