Nepal, 2004

Allow me to congratulate

you, Mr. President, on your well-deserved election to

preside over the fifty-ninth session of the General

Assembly. I assure you of my delegation’s full

cooperation in the discharge of your important duties.

Allow me to also pay tribute to your predecessor,

Mr. Julian R. Hunte, Minister for External Affairs of

Saint Lucia, for his outstanding leadership in the

Assembly’s last session. Our full appreciation goes to

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

invaluable and wise stewardship of the United Nations.

I also wish to express, on behalf of His Majesty’s

Government and the people of Nepal, our sincere

condolences to the Governments, countries and peoples

that have suffered the consequences of hurricanes and

terrorist attacks in recent weeks and months.

We live in one of the most turbulent periods since

the Second World War. The end of the cold war

unleashed forces of democracy and economic

openness, and the revolution in science, and

technology has converted the world into a global

village by shrinking distances and increasing

connectivity. In tandem with this came many negative

consequences. Internal conflicts have proliferated and

populations have been displaced. International

terrorism has increased. Globalization has widened the

gap between the rich and the poor. Poverty, ignorance,

disease and injustice have persisted and even worsened

for the majority of humanity. Transnational crimes

have spread their wings. No country is immune from

the impact of these huge problems facing humanity

today. Addressing these problems is a challenge that

requires collective action by the international

community in a spirit of multilateralism. The United

Nations has the legitimacy and mandate to promote

multilateral solutions to the shared problems of our

time.

Indeed, the United Nations embodies all of

humanity’s shared dreams and its hopes for peace,

security and development. Nepal has abiding faith in

the principles and objectives enshrined in the United

Nations Charter, and we recognize the central role of

the United Nations in the pursuit of those shared

dreams.

The emerging international situation is fraught

with a multitude of challenges. Internal conflicts have

afflicted countries from Iraq to Burundi and from Haiti

to the Sudan. Terrorism has become a global menace,

casting a dark shadow over the lives of millions of

people around the globe. Deadly weapons pose a

constant threat to the safety of human beings and the

very existence of human civilization.

By all accounts, the situation in Iraq is highly

volatile and extremely dangerous. The Nepalese people

have yet to overcome their revulsion over the brutal

killing of 12 innocent Nepalese hostages on 31 August

in that country. We strongly condemn this dastardly

crime committed by the terrorists. It is our fervent hope

that the Iraqi people will be able to improve their

security environment, hold the scheduled elections on

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time and live in a free, secure, democratic and

prosperous Iraq.

The Middle East is caught in a cycle of violence.

To break this cycle, both Israel and Palestine will have

to exercise maximum restraint and engage in fruitful

dialogue to build the mutual confidence critical for

implementing the Quartet-endorsed road map, which

offers a viable and durable two-State solution. Nepal

supports the road map and views the Israeli plan to pull

out of Gaza as a positive step.

Though the security situation has improved over

time, Afghanistan is far from secure, and its

reconstruction is far from satisfactory. The world

community must do more to provide security to the

entire country, hold free and fair elections and

accelerate the speed of its reconstruction and

development.

Nepal supports United Nations efforts to bring

peace and normalcy to Haiti, Burundi, Liberia, Côte

d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and

the Sudan. We are proud to be part of United Nations

efforts in our own humble way in those countries by

deploying our troops. The world community ought to

sustain those efforts and help those countries in their

rebuilding and reconstruction endeavours.

Nepal’s track record is a testimony to its

unflinching commitment to United Nations

peacekeeping operations. So far, over 45,000 Nepalese

peacekeepers have served in various missions in an

outstanding manner, and 47 of them have sacrificed

their precious lives in the service of peace and

humanity. At the moment, nearly 2,500 Nepalese blue

helmets are deployed in 12 peacekeeping missions

around the world.

Nepal appreciates the United Nations help in

bridging the equipment gaps for our deployment. We

urge the United Nations to enrich and widen the scope

of consultations with troop-contributing countries,

including in the areas of mission planning and pre-

deployment preparations. We urge the United Nations

to give greater opportunities to Nepalese nationals in

management positions in the Secretariat and in field

missions.

As we remain committed to peacekeeping and

willing to bring our experience to the table, Nepal has

sought a non-permanent seat on the Security Council

for the period 2007-2008, after a gap of 19 years. I take

this opportunity to appeal to Member States to give us

the privilege of their support in the election to be held

in 2006.

It is our firm belief that the international

community must look beyond the immediate conflicts

and seek to build a strong foundation for durable peace

by pursuing disarmament, development and the rule of

law.

Nepal is deeply concerned by the setback in the

disarmament realm. Of course, the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction is very important to

keeping such weapons from rogue elements. No

durable peace will be possible without concerted

efforts for disarmament, particularly of nuclear

weapons, as they are the greatest threat to human

civilization. It is regrettable that the Conference on

Disarmament has had no programme of work for the

last several years. That body must be allowed to work

on a coherent strategy leading to the complete

elimination of nuclear weapons in a time-bound

manner.

We reiterate our support to nuclear-weapon-free

zones and to keeping outer space free of such weapons.

The international community should also work together

to strengthen controls over small arms and light

weapons in order to prevent their abuse by non-State

actors.

Regional centres for peace and disarmament are

instrumental in building confidence among nations.

Nepal is eager to relocate to Kathmandu the Regional

Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the

Pacific at the earliest possible time. We are prepared to

sign the necessary agreements, consistent with the

prevailing diplomatic practices and provisions of the

other two regional centres. We also want the

Kathmandu process revived without delay.

International peace and security will continue to

elude us until we address the root causes of conflicts:

namely, poverty, ignorance, disease, exclusion and

injustice. Most of the conflicts around the world today,

which have regional and global consequences, are

rooted in those sad human conditions. It is imperative

that we address those conditions collectively for the

shared benefit of humankind as a whole.

Today, more than a billion people live in absolute

poverty. Millions of people remain illiterate.

Preventable diseases are taking a huge toll on children,

and HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are

decimating entire societies, particularly in Africa.

Growing populations have caused environmental

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degradation. Racial, cultural and wealth-related

divisions have often been sources of exclusion,

intolerance and injustice. Poverty has forced many to

migrate, and crimes have flourished in those sad

conditions.

There is no doubt that the developing countries

have the primary responsibility for their own economic

development and social progress. They need to take

measures to reform their policies and institutions and

create a climate in which enterprise, innovation and

development can flourish. Most of those countries have

been trying to do that on their own initiative and to live

up to their side of the pledges undertaken in various

global compacts.

But their development partners also have their

obligations to meet under various global compacts,

because developing countries, given the mammoth

challenges they face, cannot grapple with them and

meet the Millennium Development Goals without

enhanced assistance from their development partners.

The development partners should meet the agreed

official development assistance targets and provide

greater debt relief to indebted countries. Indeed,

although official development assistance flows have

increased since 2002, they remain way below the

additional $50 billion per year that is required to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Debt

repayment is eating up a large chunk of the resources

of developing countries, and the Heavily Indebted Poor

Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative has yet to cover all

least developed countries.

In the long run, fair globalization on a level

playing field and open markets will help reduce

poverty, increase employment and lift the standard of

living in developing nations. The development

partners, therefore, should dismantle their agricultural

subsidies and open their markets to goods and labour

from the South. They should also offer assistance to

build capacities to attract and absorb foreign direct

investment and to remove supply-side constraints,

especially in least developed nations. The least

developed countries — the most marginalized — need

more generous assistance and market access, as agreed

to in the Brussels Programme of Action, to break the

vicious circle of poverty and join the global economy.

Our studies have shown that Nepal will not be able to

meet most Millennium Development Goals without

such targeted measures from its development partners.

Their geographical bottleneck and distance from

the main corridors of commerce handicap landlocked

developing countries. We urge the transit and

development partners to implement the Almaty

Programme of Action and to overcome their

difficulties.

Though Nepal joined the World Trade

Organization (WTO) last year, most least developed

countries remain outside the multilateral trade

framework. We call on the members of the WTO to

facilitate quick and concessionary memberships for

those countries. Nepal also urges the international

community to change the international financial

architecture so as to give a voice to the small and

weak.

Nepal believes that democracy, human rights and

the rule of law will have to go hand in hand with peace

and development to achieve overall progress in a

country. It is heartening that more people in the world

enjoy democracy and freedom today than ever before.

Sadly, however, conflicts and poverty have driven

millions of people from their homes and countries.

Conflicts, together with criminal gangs, have also

violated the rule of law and peoples’ human rights.

New democracies should learn from each other’s

experiences in consolidating democratic institutions

and values, and the world community should join

hands to fight transnational crime. The rule of law

should apply not only in domestic situations but also

throughout the international community.

There are 17 million refugees around the

world — a staggering number. Many more millions of

persons are internally displaced. In many areas, those

people live in fear and under appalling conditions.

Children are deprived of a decent education, and adults

lack jobs and economic opportunities. In some cases,

whole generations have grown up in refugee camps,

struggling to find their identity.

The world community has an obligation to

provide humanitarian assistance to such needy people

and to help them resettle once they have returned

home.

Nearly 100,000 Bhutanese refugees have been

living in camps in eastern Nepal for over a decade. Our

bilateral efforts to find a negotiated settlement with

Bhutan have been slow and halting. Even the refugees

who have been verified by a joint team have yet to go

back home. Other refugees are waiting for joint

verification.

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For generations, Nepal and Bhutan have remained

close friends and have respected each other. The

presence of Bhutanese refugees on our soil is an

avoidable irritant. Therefore, we earnestly hope that

the process of verification can be expedited, that

verified refugees can be repatriated in a time-bound

manner, and that returnees will be able to enjoy their

human rights and to live in safety, dignity and honour

in their own country.

Obviously, Nepal does not have the capacity to

take care of those refugees, though we have let them

stay on humanitarian grounds. Hence, we call on the

international community, including the Office of the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), to continue its support until the refugees are

able to go back home and fully resettle there.

Our situation has become even more difficult due

to the armed violence launched in 1996 by the so-

called Maoists. That violent movement began just

when democracy was taking root and economic growth

was accelerating owing to policy reforms. The Maoists

have brutalized people and destroyed private homes

and public infrastructure worth billions of rupees. They

have been abducting children and recruiting them as

child soldiers. They have continued to defy our call to

respects schools as zones of peace. They are engaged

in extortion and in the intimidation and killing of

innocent civilians.

This notwithstanding, His Majesty’s Government

has been sincerely seeking a results-oriented dialogue

to find a political settlement. At the same time, the

Government has an obligation to protect the lives of

people and to safeguard private property and public

infrastructure by strengthening security. The

Government deeply appreciates the moral and material

support our friends have been providing us in the fight

against the violence.

In that context, we sincerely appreciate the

interest expressed by the Secretary-General in the

situation in Nepal, and his readiness to help the

Government’s efforts towards peace. The four-party

coalition Government, with its broad mandate, is

working seriously to initiate the peace process in

Nepal. We are confident that we will be able to resolve

the problem by ourselves.

Even in the midst of this difficulty, His Majesty’s

Government is committed to protecting the freedoms

and human rights of citizens. The National Human

Rights Commission monitors the human rights

situation in the country, and a three-year National

Human Rights Action Plan has been launched to

implement our human rights commitments.

We have been seeking technical assistance from

the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights as concerns the capacity-building of

the National Human Rights Commission. The Human

Rights Promotion Centre has been established to

ensure inter-departmental coordination and the

supervision of human rights issues.

The United Nations is the pivot of multilateralism

that is imperative to address the complex challenges of

our time. Nepal supports the ongoing efforts for United

Nations reform, including those aimed at revitalizing

the General Assembly and the Economic and Social

Council. Priority should be accorded to enhancing the

role of the United Nations in the area of economic and

social development. Security Council reform has

become an important issue for the international

community. Nepal has consistently supported the

expansion of the Council and reform of its methods of

work, so as to make it more representative, transparent

and democratic.

In that context, the aspirations of some Member

States — mainly India, Japan, Germany and Brazil —

merit serious consideration for permanent membership

in the Security Council. At the same time, there is

urgent need to expand the Council’s non-permanent

membership to ensure greater participation of small

Member States.

Nepal hopes the High-level Panel on Threats,

Challenges and Change appointed by the Secretary-

General will come up with recommendations that could

culminate in tangible reforms consistent with the

present realities of the world. The high-level plenary

meeting of the General Assembly at the sixtieth

anniversary of the United Nations will be a landmark

event that should make a great leap forward on a

number of outstanding issues and expedite

implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

This fall, Nepal is organizing the Second World

Buddhist Summit in Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord

Buddha and a world heritage site in Nepal. We need

support and participation from our friends the Member

States to make the conference a success and to revive

in New York the international committee for the

development of Lumbini, which we are planning to do

soon.

To conclude, the dawn of the new millennium

offers us both opportunities for and challenges to

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revitalizing the United Nations and strengthening

multilateralism. As an active Member State, Nepal will

do its best to contribute to the efforts of the United

Nations in order to attain the shared goals of peace and

prosperity for all.