Desra Percaya

Desra Percaya (born 20 April 1961) is an Indonesian diplomat who, since 2020, serves as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom, accredited to Ireland and the International Maritime Organization.

Education Percaya read social studies at Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia, graduating with a bachelor's degree, before pursuing further studies in international relations at the University of Birmingham, where he received his MA in 1995. He then enrolled onto the Graduate Society (now Ustinov College) at Durham University, where he completed his PhD, with a thesis entitled "Sino-Indonesian Relations: A Study of Indonesian Perceptions of China" in 2000.

He was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) by the University of Birmingham in 2014; and again in 2024 by Durham University.

Career Percaya was appointed ambassador and permanent representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York in February 2012. He was elected chairman of the United Nations' First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 4 September 2013, also serving as vice-president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), co-facilitator on human rights treaty bodies, chairman of the NAM Working Group on Disarmament, vice-chairman of the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and vice-chairman of the UN Committee on Decolonization.

Percaya served as Director-General for Asia, Pacific, and Africa at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was previously Indonesia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Before this he was Director of International Security and Disarmament in the Directorate of Multilateral Affairs in Jakarta between 2007 and 2009. He first joined Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986.

Personal life Born in East Java on 20 April 1961 of Sundanese parentage, Percaya is married and has two children: Asteya Prima and Muhammad Dwi Aditya Percaya.

Honours and awards