# Fauziah Mohd Taib

Fauziah binti Mohamad Taib (born 26 March 1965) is a Malaysian diplomat and author. She served as the Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 13 August 2008 until her retirement in 2015. She also served as the Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Fauziah has written on a variety of topics. Her first published work, titled Malaysia and UNCED: An Analysis of A Diplomatic Process, was published under Kluwer Law International in 1989. She has since authored or edited ten other books, including Number One, Wisma Putra, a collection of short stories by Malaysian Ambassadors. Her latest book, At the OPCW: A Story of Malaysia's Interventions, was launched by the OPCW Director General in March 2015.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia) appointed Fauziah as the Director General of the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations in 2005. During her tenure at the institute, she instituted changes to the diplomatic syllabus, advocating for a more interactive mode of training, preferring simulation and discussions over lectures and talks.
She published a number of books while at the Institute and helped others to publish as well, strengthening the publication mandate of the Institute. She also served as a speech-writer for the Minister of Foreign Affairs during this time.
As Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Fauziah represented Malaysia in two Executive Council terms, co-facilitating discussions regarding the OPCW’s inspection methodology. When the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013, Fauziah travelled to Oslo for the ceremony.
While serving in the Netherlands, Fauziah began painting and held her first exhibition at The Hague in 2012. She is also an avid traveller, an interest she developed after spending the summer of her graduation in 1977 backpacking and trekking across the continental USA.

## Early life and education

Fauziah was born on 26 March 1955 in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The youngest of nine siblings, she grew up in a household with a stay-at-home mother and a civil servant father.
She studied International Relations at the University of Malaya (1974–1977), l'Université de Paris 1 (Panthéon-Sorbonne)/L'Institut International d'Administration Publique, Paris, (1985–1986) and the University of Kent at Canterbury (1994–1996). She was awarded a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury after 18 months of study.

## Career

Fauziah Mohd. Taib joined the Malaysian Civil Service in 1978, beginning her career as an assistant director at the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia), handling national development and women issues.
In 1983 she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was assigned to the Europe Division before being posted to the Embassy of Malaysia in Belgium in 1988.
She returned to the Ministry in 1991 and was promoted to principal assistant secretary in the Economic Division, where her work included participation in United Nations initiatives.
By 1993, Fauziah was co-ordinating East Europe affairs at the Ministry and monitoring Malaysia's participation with SFOR and UNPROFOR during the Bosnian War. She attended UN meetings for the Reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Brussels) and visited Bosnia-Herzegovina several times during the reconstruction period.
In September 1994, Fauziah took a two-year sabbatical to continue her post-graduate doctoral studies under the sponsorship of the Federal Government. Upon her return with a PhD in August 1996, she served the Prime Minister's special envoy on a mission to Sudan and South Africa.
She was appointed as the Director General of the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), where she revamped the diplomatic syllabus and continued publishing books.
As director general for the newly established Policy and Strategy Planning within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fauziah contributed to a number of new initiatives for the government. One of her papers, commissioned by the Foreign Minister, advocated for a specific legal department within the Ministry, and led to the creation of the Ministry's Department of Research, Treaties and International Law. She was also a member of the Malaysian team to the International Court of Justice regarding the legal dispute of Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge between Malaysia and Singapore.
Fauziah's other overseas postings include as Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington, D.C. and Ambassador to Fiji (with concurrent accreditation to Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati, and Tuvalu), before being assigned as Ambassador to the Netherlands.

### MH17 Crisis Management

On 17 July 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down in rebel-held Ukrainian territory, near the Ukrainian-Russian border. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members from ten different countries on board. The majority of the passengers were Dutch.
Following the crash, Fauziah Mohd. Taib was appointed as her country's lead focal point, heading Malaysia's Joint Operations Centre in The Hague to oversee the repatriation of victims. As Ambassador, she also liaised with the Dutch government on matters related to the downed aircraft.
During the MH17 crisis management operations in the Netherlands, Fauziah gave interviews on several TV stations in the Netherlands as well as Malaysia.

## Publications
### Books

* Malaysia and UNCED: An Analysis of a Diplomatic Process: 1989 – 1992 (Kluwer Law International,1997) ISBN 90-411-0683-9
* A Diplomat Arrives in Washington (USA, 2003) ISBN 1-4010-8915-1/-3
* Rumah Malaysia, Suva: The Official Residence of the High Commissioner (Fiji, 2004) ISBN 982-9093-01-8
* Selected Foreign Policy Speeches by Syed Hamid Albar (Editor) (Malaysia, 2005) ISBN 983-2220-07-6
* The Making of the ASEAN Summit (Malaysia, 2006) ISBN 983-2220-09-2
* Number One, Wisma Putra (Editor) (Malaysia, 2006) ISBN 983-2220-12-2/11-4
* Manual of Procedures for Wisma Putra Officers (Editor) (Malaysia, 2007)
* Letta, Corrado. Malaysia-Europe Strategic Partnership for the Pacific Century. Edited by Fauziah Mohd Taib (Malaysia, 2008) ISBN 978-983-43196-2-5
* Brushwork Odyssey in Malaysia: A Dutch Retelling (Editor) (Netherlands, 2009) ISBN 978-90-9024773-1
* Letta, Corrado. Integration Geopolitics: East Asia vs Latin America (Edited by Fauziah Mohd Taib) (Peru, 2010) ISBN 978-612-45771-0-9
* All Things Malaysian (Editor) (Netherlands, 2011) ISBN 978-90-9026098-3
* At the OPCW: A Story of Malaysia's Interventions (the Netherlands, 2015) ISBN 978-967-132420-2

### Journal

* Journal of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (JDFR Malaysia) – Editor in Chief, 2005–2007

### Commemorative Magazine

* Wisma Putra @ 50: 1957–2007 – Editor in Chief

### Articles / Papers

* "Creativity in Malaysia's Foreign Policy" in INTAN. 1989.
* "Ethics in Malaysia's Foreign Policy" in JDFR. 2006.
* "Privatising Diplomacy: The Way Forward”, in Managing Diplomats’ Networks and Optimizing Value by Kishan Rana and Jova Kurbalija (DiploFoundation, Malta). 2007.
* "Malaysia's Foreign Policy After 2020: In Search of a Niche" (Paper presented at the 8th Heads of Missions Conference, Kuala Lumpur) 2014.

## Honours
### Honours of Malaysia

* Negeri Sembilan :
** Knight Commander of the Grand Order of Tuanku Jaafar (DPTJ) – Dato' (2008)