NEW YORK: Penang-born Malaysian Datuk Judy Cheng-Hopkins, special advisor of the United Nations secretary-general on the University for Peace (UPEACE), has been in a career spanning 36 years at the world body.
Prior to her appointment in September last year, Cheng-Hopkins was the assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support.
She has also served as the assistant high commissioner for refugees, as the director of the Asia Bureau and the Balkans at the World Food Programme and worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Africa for 10 years.
At UPEACE, established in 1980 and based in Costa Rica, Cheng-Hopkins represents the UN secretary-general on the council. The secretary-general is the honorary president of the council.
Cheng-Hopkins, who in September 2014 received her ‘Datuk’ title from Penang, was involved for many years in the UN peace-building force, popularly referred to as the ‘blue helmet’ force because of the conspicuously blue-coloured helmets worn by UN peacekeepers.
In an interview with Bernama in her office at the UN headquarters, Cheng-Hopkins explained the contours of the objectives of the UPEACE, the mission of which is to “provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the aspiration proclaimed in the UN Charter”.
“I also work with the council and the university’s academic and managerial leadership to develop and implement a comprehensive reform programme encompassing academics, administration and management,” she said.
A fourth-generation Malaysian from Penang, Cheng-Hopkins attended St George’s Girls’ School and St Xavier’s Institution there and completed her higher education with her Master’s studies in international affairs at Columbia University in New York in 1978.
She was honoured by her university in 2013 with a global leadership award and called “one of the most distinguished alumni” by the dean.
Cheng-Hopkins’ work at the UN also involved providing humanitarian assistance to countries as diverse as North Korea and Afghanistan, and helping build sustainable peace in countries embroiled in civil war such as Somalia, Yemen, Liberia and Nepal.
Her extent of influence can be gauged from the fact that in 2011 she made it to Forbes’ list of the 10 most powerful women at the UN for her work with the Peacebuilding Commission and managing the US$100-million annual peacebuilding fund.
Married to American Dr Thomas J. Hopkins, the mother of two daughters reminisced about her “first 20 years of my life at the UN” where she has worked for a total of 36 years.
”I remember I was with the UN Development Programme. I worked in Kenya and in Zambia, etc. and even dealt with liberation movements. But we dealt basically with development issues.
“Then I went to the World Food Programme, where we dealt with a lot of disasters. That was, for me, essentially humanitarian work. Before taking over the peacebuilding operations, I was assistant high commissioner for refugees, dealing with issues of displaced people, and providing them protection.
“Looking back, now, I realise there’s an element of peacebuilding in all these other areas. So, I feel very fortunate to have been given this job that brought together my experiences and expertise of thirty-something years in development, humanitarian assistance and protection of civilians,” she said.
Peacebuilding for her does not mean just stopping or resolving an armed conflict.
“That’s not an end in itself. It requires painstaking work, and there is almost always the danger of a relapse into the conflict if there is no all-inclusive development work in the conflict area to ensure that those who feel marginalised do not, again, fall into the trap of armed conflict,” she explained, citing South Sudan’s example of a country falling into a relapse.
“But as we see countries falling into a relapse, we also seem to be getting better at putting our fingers on the real causes of these conflicts. However, there’s only so much external actors can do,” she explained.
Asked about Malaysia’s role in peace-building efforts, Cheng-Hopkins said Malaysia had made an important contribution to the overall peacebuilding efforts. — Bernama