Nepal, 2008

At the outset,

allow me to congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann on his election as President of the General

Assembly and to assure him of my delegation’s full

cooperation in discharging his responsibilities. I also

thank the Secretary-General for his comprehensive

report on the work of the United Nations (A/63/1) and

his positive reference to the situation prevailing in

Nepal.

It is, indeed, a historic opportunity for me to

address this Assembly as the first Prime Minister of

Nepal, the newest republic of the world. As I stand

here in front of the global leadership, I think of the

long struggle that I and my party waged with single-

mindedness for the liberation of the common man from

the clutches of the age-old suppression, deprivation,

marginalization and outright negligence of the

previously existing polity. My fellow countrymen and

women, toiling in the mountains and valleys, working

day and night in the lowlands and the urban areas and

yet unable to ensure even the simple necessities of life

for their families, had a hope and expectation that one

day they would lead a decent life with equal rights and

opportunities and be recognized as respected citizens

of the country.

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We are at that significant turning point in the

political history of Nepal, and I and my party are proud

to be the leading force of that positive historical

change. Today, I see a great hope in the glinting eyes of

the Dalit boy from the far west, the downtrodden

woman from the indigenous nationality in the east, the

homeless Tharu girl, the landless Madhesi and other

peasants from the hills living under thatched roofs. I

intend to lead them with conviction and sincerity in a

new journey of sustainable peace and equitable

progress in a modern Nepal. I have, therefore, the

honour and great privilege of bringing with me to the

Assembly the greetings and best wishes of the people

and the Government of that new Federal Democratic

Republic of Nepal.

Following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement

in November 2006, after a decade-long armed struggle,

we began our peace process and eventually held

elections to the Constituent Assembly in April this

year. People overwhelmingly voted for my party and

made us the single largest political party in the

Assembly with great hope and expectations. At its first

meeting, the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a

federal democratic republic, formally ending the 240-

year-old monarchy and creating a new opportunity to

transform the old feudalistic State into an inclusive and

federal new Nepal. That was in keeping with the long-

standing aspirations of the Nepalese people. They

voted in favour of the change and transformation that

my own party had fought for over so many years. After

the historic political transformation, our agenda now is

to bring about an equally historic socio-economic

transformation of the country.

Today, I must report with all humility that our

Constituent Assembly is the most inclusive representative

body, of which all marginalized, oppressed ethnic

communities, indigenous nationalities, Dalits, the

disadvantaged and people from the backward regions and

communities are members, which will herald a new

beginning in the country. That may very well be an

example of representativeness to the world in the first

decade of the twenty-first century.

The Government is committed to restoring law

and order, providing immediate relief to the people

affected by the conflict, fighting against the cancerous

growth of corruption and starting an economic

recovery package, focusing on pro-poor growth,

infrastructure development and public-private

partnership. The Government will build an effective

partnership with the international community in

creating an atmosphere for unleashing a new socio-

economic transformation, for which the Nepalese

people have so long been waiting.

Nepal’s peace process is unique in its

characteristics and is based on multiparty democracy,

inclusiveness, accommodation, dialogue and the

recognition of the people as the ultimate arbiter. It is

the outcome of our own creative disposition towards

peace, and we feel that it can also serve as a reference

model for peace elsewhere.

We appreciate the continued support of the

United Nations for the peace process, especially in

monitoring the management of arms and personnel

through the United Nations Mission in Nepal. The

United Nations Mission has undertaken its mandated

tasks well. I also take this opportunity to thank our

neighbours, friends and donors for their continued

support in favour of the peace process and the

institutionalization of democracy in Nepal. I am

confident they are doing so to unleash Nepal’s

development potential, in accordance with the wish of

the Nepalese people.

As we proceed in the peace process within the

country, new problems in the form of the global food

crisis, rising oil prices and imminent danger from

climate change stare us in the face. Those challenges

also undermine our achievement of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs). There will be no success

in achieving the MDGs without ensuring that they are

achieved in the least developed countries. Solemn

pledges were made in the 2000 Millennium Declaration

and at the 2002 International Conference on Financing

for Development held in Monterrey. Many of those

commitments are yet to be fulfilled and the

achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

remains elusive to most of the world’s poor people.

The United Nations agenda today has to tackle

those development challenges and many other issues,

such as religious extremism, terrorism, the

proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass

destruction; transnational crimes, such as drugs, human

trafficking and money-laundering; continuing conflicts

within and among States; and gross violations of

human rights, genocide, war crimes and crimes against

humanity. It is more than obvious that many of those

global problems require global solutions. Together, we

can rise to the occasion and adopt the vision and

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strategy that the founders of the United Nations charted

in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the

Organization. Multilateralism, not unilateralism, is the

answer to those problems.

Least developed countries like Nepal are faced

with a special predicament in their development

efforts. We are trapped in a vicious circle of poverty.

For many historical reasons, we have low economic

growth, low productivity, underdeveloped industries

and traditional agriculture. Because of the low level of

social indicators and fewer opportunities, conflict and

crisis continue to be prevalent in those countries.

Today, the growing gap between rich and poor

within countries as well as between nations is a sure

sign of a looming disaster. It is also inhuman and

unjust that such a high level of inequality is still so

common in this age of human achievements,

abundance and progress. Equally important is the fact

that islands of prosperity in a sea of poverty are not

sustainable and certainly not in the enlightened self-

interest of even the developed countries themselves, as

they breed resentment, fuel conflict and undermine

their own progress in the long run. They also go

against the fundamental spirit of the United Nations.

Because of the peculiar nature of the least

developed countries and their high level of

vulnerability, I strongly urge that the issues of least

developed countries be looked at by the United Nations

separately and addressed with special and focused

programmes. They should be ensured dedicated

support and cooperation if we want to make our world

the just and inclusive place that the United Nations so

proudly espouses.

We are not only least developed, but also

landlocked. That is a double disadvantage in our efforts

to fulfil our development aspirations. In fact, we feel

further marginalized by the overwhelming impact of

the downside of globalization and the high cost of

trade. We want full implementation of the respective

global compacts, the Brussels Programme of Action for

the Least Developed Countries and the Almaty

Programme of Action for the landlocked developing

countries. In particular, I would like to highlight the

need on the part of our developed country partners to

fulfil their commitments and pledges in allocating a

certain percentage of their gross national product to

those countries and in making trade concessions, debt

relief and other capacity-building measures available in

accordance with those compacts. On our part, I would

like to undertake that Nepal will fulfil its pledge to

own its development programmes in accordance with

its national priorities, including those on poverty

reduction and pro-poor governance policies.

We need to protect our people from the growing

vulnerabilities of climate change. For example, in my

own country, Nepal, melting glaciers and shifting

weather patterns are threatening life-support systems,

undermining the sustainability of agriculture and

unleashing extreme climate-induced disasters, such as

frequent floods and landslides. The Himalayan range

provides life-supporting water downstream for more

than 1 billion people. Mount Everest, as the roof of the

world, and the Himalayan range need to be protected

and utilized properly to contribute to humankind as a

whole.

I therefore strongly appeal to the international

community to extend all necessary support and

cooperation to protect and promote that pristine

environment. We need to create a regime of common

but differentiated responsibilities in which the

developed countries will mitigate the burden of

adaptation for the vulnerable countries, such as the

least developed and small islands. The world stands to

benefit from addressing climate change if we are able

to harness the tremendous potentials of Nepal’s

hydropower, which is a renewable and clean source of

energy. To that end, Nepal is ready to invite and

encourage investment in its hydropower projects.

I am pleased that the United Nations Regional

Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the

Pacific is now operational in Kathmandu 20 years after

it was established by this Assembly. I thank all

Members, countries of the region, the Secretary-

General and the officials of the Secretariat for the

smooth relocation of the Centre from New York to

Kathmandu. I would like to take this opportunity to

reiterate Nepal’s commitment to making the Centre

successful through the cooperation of all countries

concerned.

Over the years, peacekeeping has evolved as the

soul of the United Nations. With that in mind, since

1958 Nepal has regularly placed its peacekeepers at the

call of the United Nations. We are celebrating the

fiftieth anniversary of Nepal’s continuous participation

in United Nations peacekeeping operations. I take this

opportunity to reiterate Nepal’s commitment to

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continuing to provide our troops for the cause of peace

worldwide. Today, Nepal is the fifth largest contributor

of troops and police personnel to United Nations

peacekeeping operations. We are glad that they have

earned accolades for their professional competence and

performance both at home and abroad. We consider

that to be our modest contribution to international

peace and security.

The enjoyment of universal human rights is

absolutely essential to creating an environment of

peace, justice, democracy and development. As a

democracy, Nepal is fully committed to protecting and

promoting the human rights of its people under all

circumstances, with constitutional and legal guarantees

and implementation of the international human rights

instruments to which Nepal is a party. The Government

is committed to ending the environment of impunity.

The proposed truth and reconciliation commission will

seek to arrive at a necessary balance between peace

and justice in order to ensure that justice is served and

that the centrality of the peace process is preserved. We

will continue to strengthen our National Human Rights

Commission so that it can take up its statutory

responsibility for the protection and promotion of

human rights in the country even more effectively. It

goes without saying that the environment for the

protection and promotion of human rights in Nepal has

significantly improved, especially after the signing of

the comprehensive peace agreement in November

2006.

As a least developed country that entered the

World Trade Organization (WTO) not too long ago,

Nepal is concerned at the lack of tangible progress in

negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda. We

think that the opportunities in world trade through the

multilateral trading framework of WTO should not be

delayed any further. The least developed countries

deserve genuine duty-free and quota-free market access

for all their tradable products from all the major

countries, together with more favourable rules of origin

and support for enhancing their supply-side capacity.

Only then will the Doha Round be a development

round in the real sense of the word. Without the

meaningful integration of the least developed countries

into the global regime, I do not know how we can

make the global trading regime sustainable, equitable

and inclusive. Similarly, the least developed countries

need more aid for trade and trade facilitation measures

to enhance their trading capacity.

Today, the United Nations needs to reform and

democratize itself in order to take on the numerous

challenges in international peace and security

effectively, and it should reflect the current realities of

the world. We should also give the necessary

credibility, legitimacy, competence and effectiveness to

the world body in solving global problems.

I take this opportunity to reiterate Nepal’s solemn

faith and commitment to the purposes and principles of

the Charter of the United Nations. On behalf of the

people and the Government of Nepal, I pledge to work

with all States Members in a spirit of goodwill,

cooperation and mutual solidarity in order to take on

the challenges that face the world. Indeed, we have

adopted that spirit as one of the main tenets of Nepal’s

foreign policy.

Nepal is an example of how swords can be turned

into ploughshares. That is what the United Nations is

dedicated to. Therefore, as I address this Assembly

today, I have a special feeling about the objectives and

ideals that the United Nations stands for and the

correlation between those ideals and the political,

economic and social transformation that we would like

to achieve in our country. May we all succeed in

attaining our common objectives through our collective

and sincere efforts as united and inseparable members

of a single global family.