Nepal, 2012

Let me begin by

congratulating Mr. Jeremić on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh

session. My delegation assures him of its full support in

the discharge of his responsibilities.

I also take this opportunity to place on record our

profound appreciation to the outgoing President, His

Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, for having

successfully presided over the sixty-sixth session of the

Assembly. Let me also express our sincere gratitude

to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his strong

commitment and dedication in serving the United

Nations.

In establishing the United Nations at a time when

the world was emerging from the ashes of successive

devastating wars, our founding fathers envisioned

a peaceful, stable, just and prosperous world. Nearly

seven decades later, the lofty objectives of the United

Nations Charter are yet to be fully realized. Threats to

international peace and security remain unabated, with

traditional sources of threats continuing alongside the

emergence of new sources and forms of conflict. In

fact, the sense of insecurity seems to be more pervasive today as people around the world continue to face a

wide range of situations, characterized by the legacy

of colonialism, injustice, domination, exploitation,

hatred, intolerance, exclusion, xenophobia and so on.

Economic insecurity in the face of the heightened global

economic and financial crises and fierce competition

for dwindling resources and energy security also play

their part in generating tensions in many parts of the

world.

The concept of collective security being the core

pillar of the United Nations Charter has often been

undermined through recourse to dispute-settlement

means that are outside the purview of a multilateral

mechanism. Unilateralism and the selective

interpretation of the provisions of the Charter risk

inciting more conflict and confrontation rather than

understanding and cooperation. That necessitates

wider respect and observance of the principles of

sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence

and non-interference as the bedrock principles of

international relations. Those principles cannot

and should not be put to the political test under any

circumstances.

The growing challenges do not mean that the role

and importance of the United Nations have diminished,

but rather demand a more effective and stronger

Organization. We must internalize that reality and

move forward, grasping the true spirit of its founding

principles and purposes.

Nepal supports a just and lasting solution to the

Middle East. It is our principled position to support

the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to self-

determination and a fully independent and sovereign

Palestinian State on the basis of the United Nations

resolutions. The peaceful and secure coexistence of the

independent States of a sovereign Palestine and Israel

are crucial to ensuring lasting peace in the Middle East.

We call for an end to the violence and the peaceful

resolution of the Syrian crisis by the Syrian people

themselves. The sovereignty, territorial integrity and

independence of Syria must be upheld.

We are of the firm opinion that the protracted

embargo on Cuba is unjustified and needs to be ended

immediately and unconditionally.

We recognize the legitimate rights of every

sovereign State to pursue the development of nuclear

technology solely for peaceful purposes and under effective international supervision. We stand firmly

against nuclear proliferation, the arms race and the

misuse of nuclear technology for ulterior motives.

We strongly oppose and renounce violence and

physical attacks on diplomats anywhere under any

pretext.

We reiterate our call for general and complete

elimination of nuclear and all other weapons of mass

destruction in a time-bound manner. The international

community should work in unison to strengthen

controls over small arms and light weapons to prevent

their pervasive abuse by criminal elements.

It is heartening to note that, as a major troop-

contributing country, Nepal has already provided

over 92,000 professional and dedicated peacekeepers

to the United Nations for various operations since its

first participation in 1959. We remain steadfast in our

commitment to international peace and security and

affirm that our contribution to that noble cause will

continue. While calling for timely reforms in that

f lagship activity, we stress the importance of equitable

representation of troop-contributing countries, at the

leadership level, both at United Nations Headquarters

and in field missions.

I would like to reaffirm Nepal’s unreserved

condemnation of terrorism wherever it occurs and in

all its forms and manifestations. We renew our call

for an expeditious conclusion of the negotiations on a

comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

As we continue to combat terrorism, we must not forget

that durable peace can be built only on the firm pillars

of the prevention of conflict, the peaceful resolution of

disputes, persistent efforts for disarmament, poverty

reduction, development and respect for diversity,

fairness and justice. There is a need to differentiate

between terrorism and struggles for liberation, freedom

and sustainable peace and development.

Our commitment to democracy, human rights, the

rule of law and inclusive development is unf linching.

The mutually reinforcing effects of such principles foster

the active participation of the people in governance

processes towards safeguarding peace, security

and development. To address Nepal’s post-conflict

transition needs, we have established mechanisms and

processes for the protection and promotion of human

rights and for their monitoring at the highest level and

at various tiers of the sub-national level. As a party to 22 human rights conventions,

including seven core instruments, we have established

several laws that ensure the rights of all sectors of

society, including women, children and marginalized

and deprived communities. We are committed to

controlling cross-border human trafficking and to

doing our utmost to ensure that the rights and interests

of migrant workers are protected in countries that are

destinations for labour. The National Human Rights

Commission, which is an independent constitutional

body, operates as the country’s all-powerful watchdog

for the protection and promotion of human rights.

We are committed to strengthening that specialized

national institution as a true custodian of human rights.

Nepal has provided shelter to a large number of

refugees on humanitarian grounds. While we appreciate

the assistance of the international community in

supporting refugees, we reiterate that their voluntary

repatriation to their homeland with dignity and honour

is the only durable solution to the refugee problem.

We underscore that the rule of law at the

international level is as important as at the national level

in ensuring the sovereign equality of all States, respect

for their territorial integrity and political independence

and non-intervention in their internal affairs. Those

are essential principles for peaceful coexistence and

mutual cooperation among States.

The issue of sustainable development has come

to the forefront of today’s global discourse. It was the

focus of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20). We believe that we need to

pursue not only sustainable development goals, but

also a development path towards equal prosperity

through meaningful development opportunities by

eradicating the deeply entrenched inequalities and

global exploitative practices. In our opinion, freeing

all human beings from the dehumanizing clutches of

poverty and hunger should be the first essential step

towards that end. The outcome document of Rio+20

(resolution 66/288, annex) sets out a broad framework

for global action for “The future we want” and a post-

2015 global development agenda. The need of the hour

is to ensure effective implementation.

As we all have come to realize, climate change is

one of the greatest challenges of our time. Its insidious

effects are visible everywhere and are compounded

by disasters of increasing magnitude and frequency.

Countries like Nepal, which make a negligible contribution to greenhouse gases but have to bear the

disproportionate brunt of the impacts of climate change,

deserve special assistance in creating and maintaining

climate-resilient societies. Negotiations under the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change should continue to be guided by the principle

of common but differentiated responsibilities in letter

and spirit. Nepal hopes that the successor mechanism

of the Kyoto Protocol ensures binding commitments

and climate justice. The various funding mechanisms

for climate change adaptation and mitigation measures

must be activated, and action must be taken on an

urgent basis.

The world we live in is more unjust today than when

we inherited it. Contrary to much-touted popular belief,

the profusion in knowledge, the revolution in science

and technology and increased mobility in ideas and

global capital, though often termed as advancements

characteristic of the modern world, have failed to

deliver significant contributions to making our planet

safer and more just. They could have, but that is not

the reality. It is an irony that our capacities to produce

goods and services have increased manyfold, leading

to an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, but over

one third of the world’s population is forced to live in

abject poverty.

The rapid globalization of finance and an

unsustainable consumption of resources have made

a few people enormously rich at the cost of the rest,

making for the greatest inequality among human beings

ever in history. Obviously, the transformative power of

globalization has not been utilized for the benefit of the

masses. The direction and pattern of the current form

of economic globalization therefore call for a change in

its mode of operation so that it becomes more inclusive

and responsive to the needs of poor and marginalized

people.

Nepal views the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

and the Group of 77 and China as important multilateral

forums that should play an active role in advancing

the United Nations agenda, in line with the Charter

objectives of pursuing the shared goals of peace, progress

and prosperity. The principles and purposes of NAM are

of continued relevance in forging developing countries’

collective moral resolve to create an equitable, fair and

just world order, combating the conservative forces of

repression, invasion, intimidation and injustice. The

ideals of NAM, as reiterated at its recently held sixteenth

summit in Teheran, go a long way towards fostering better understanding and cooperative relations among

countries and peoples of the world.

The least developed countries (LDCs) are suffering

from dehumanizing marginalization and deprivation

of the basic necessities of life. This state of affairs

is a blemish on the sheer aff luence achieved in the

globalized world. Global sustainable development will

not be possible without sustainable development for the

LDCs, including substantial improvement in the quality

of life of their 880 million people. The world must pay

due attention in deeds as well as in words to the special

and different needs and requirements of the LDCs.

The landlocked LDCs (LLDCs), among which Nepal

figures, have to bear the additional disadvantages of

physical and non-physical barriers in trade. That results

in increased transactional costs for transit transport,

which renders their international trade uncompetitive.

Transit countries, regional groups, the international

financial institutions and other development partners

should work together to overcome those difficulties by

investing in transport infrastructure links and trade

facilitation measures. We underline the central role

of the United Nations in promoting the development

agenda, taking into account the special needs and

development challenges confronting the LDCs, the

LLDCs and other vulnerable groups of countries.

Timely and ongoing reforms of the United

Nations are necessary to strengthen and revitalize

this world body so that it can respond to increasing

global challenges. The General Assembly must be

strengthened and endowed with decision-making

power and authority commensurate with its global

representation. Nepal supports the expansion of the

Security Council in both member categories and hopes

to see greater accountability and transparency in its

working methods. The Economic and Social Council

must be strengthened for the promotion of international

economic cooperation, coordination, policy review and

dialogue. It must also formulate and develop the social

and economic agenda and work for the implementation

of agreed international development goals, with special

emphasis on development for LDCs, LLDCs and small

island developing States, among others.

We seek an increased role for the United

Nations system in global economic governance, with

strengthened coordination and cooperation with

the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade

Organization, to reflect the dynamics of change. Let me brief ly say a few words about the current

situation in my country. The historic task we face is

still to positively conclude the historical transition

we are undergoing as early as possible. We need the

Constituent Assembly to promulgate a new constitution

and we need to finally complete the peace process.

Based on the historic people’s movement of 2006, which

was the culmination of many decades of struggle by the

Nepalese people against autocracy, we abolished the

monarchy and established a republican State. We also

adopted other important principles, such as secularism,

federalism and inclusive, proportional representation

and participation, although they are yet to be codified

in a new constitution.

The Constituent Assembly was elected for the

first time in Nepal’s political history in 2008 and

was mandated to draft a constitution addressing the

aspirations of the people for change, a restructuring of

the State and an end to all forms of exploitation and

discrimination based on class, ethnicity, gender and

region. The Constituent Assembly worked for four

years to draft the new constitution and completed 80

to 90 per cent of the drafting, but never finalized the

text. Not having met its deadline, and after the Supreme

Court ruled against extensions, it was dissolved on

27 May this year.

We have made qualitative progress on the technical

side of the peace process, mainly the integration of

former Maoist combatants. There is no outstanding

problem left in that regard and the process is near

completion. A transitional justice mechanism is in place

to promote the peace and reconciliation process needed

for the completion of the peace process. But we have

yet to find a solution to the Constituent Assembly’s

inability to create a constitution. Political parties are

engaged in dialogue and negotiations in that regard

and are seriously committed to finding a consensus

solution. National consensus is the only option to find a

way out of the current impasse. We hope we will be able

to do so without excessive delay.

As we go through the process of institutionalizing

change, we are of the firm belief that democracy,

development and peace are interrelated and

interdependent. By “democracy”, we mean inclusive

and participatory democracy, and by “development”

we mean people-centred development with social

justice and socioeconomic transformation. Without

democracy and development, there cannot be lasting

and sustainable peace. And democracy, development, peace and stability should safeguard national

sovereignty. Thus democracy, development, peace and

national sovereignty are the major components of our

process of change. From our experience, we can say that

democracy has both universal and particular aspects.

We thank the international community, including

the United Nations, for its continued support for and

cooperation in our peace and constitution-making

process from the very beginning, and hope that it will

continue in the future.

Nature has blessed us with an outstanding mountain

range with gushing rivers, incredible biodiversity and a

landscape spectrum of contrast and vibrancy. We are

equally rich in ancient cultural heritage, multiple ethnic

cultures and a diverse mosaic of hardworking people.

We need a stable and peaceful environment if we are

to make effective use of those diverse endowments for

socioeconomic transformation, along with ongoing

State restructuring. Only then will it be possible to

translate the historic achievements we have made on

the political front into tangible results in economic and

human development terms.

As a symbolic gesture to institutionalize peace

for development in the national, regional and global

contexts, we want to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of

Lord Buddha, the apostle of peace, into an international

city of peace. In that respect, we call for international

support and cooperation to realize the initiative.

In conclusion, I would like in all humility to draw

the attention of all world leaders to the core reality

that if we do not reach the goal of global peace and

prosperity together, then nobody will. That is why we

must act together accordingly.