Nepal, 1997

First of all, on behalf of the

Government and people of Nepal and on my own behalf,

I should like to extend to you, Sir, our warmest

congratulations on your election as President of the fifty-

second session of the General Assembly. I am confident

that with your rich experience in international affairs you

will guide the work of the Assembly to a successful

conclusion. I wish also to assure you of the full

cooperation of my delegation in the discharge of your

responsibilities.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer our

deep appreciation and thanks to the President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-first session, Ambassador

Razali Ismail of the friendly country of Malaysia, for the

enthusiasm, dedication and zeal he brought to bear on the

work of the previous session.

To Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I bring greetings

and best wishes from Nepal. In every way, he is proving

himself worthy of the great trust the membership has

placed in him. Having shown his deep commitment to

United Nations reform from the day of his appointment as

Secretary-General, he has presented us with a set of very

serious and far-reaching proposals of impressive breadth

and scope, with a view to reshaping the United Nations

so that it can better serve humanity in the years ahead.

The Secretary-General has asked us to make this

session of the General Assembly one of reform. We agree

with him that United Nations reform is the shared concern

of all Member States and that the purpose of the reform

is to strengthen the role of the United Nations and

enhance its efficiency. In the aftermath of the end of the

cold war, the world situation is continuously undergoing

profound changes, evolving progressively towards a world

25

of multipolarity which reinforces the core of the United

Nations Charter: peace and development in larger freedom.

The universal cause, therefore, is to make the United

Nations a more vibrant world Organization that is more

properly equipped, institutionally and financially, to meet

the evolving challenges of the next century.

The proposals of the Secretary-General complement

the ongoing intergovernmental process regarding the

revitalization of the United Nations, particularly financial

reform and reform of the Security Council.

The United Nations, if it is to perform the mission set

out in its Charter, cannot limp from one year to another on

the verge of bankruptcy. No country should bear an

excessive burden, but the fundamental principle of any

scale of assessments should be the capacity to pay,

calculated on the basis of the country’s share of global

gross national product. It also does not make sense that half

the total membership is assessed the same amount in

contributions. A change in the scale of assessments is

overdue. Countries, rich and poor, must pay their assessed

share in full, on time and without conditions.

With regard to the reform of the Security Council, the

organ which bears the primary responsibility for the

maintenance of international peace and security, Nepal’s

position coincides basically with the position taken by the

Non-Aligned Movement, as reflected, in particular, in the

Cartagena summit Declaration and the subsequent

Declarations of the meetings of Foreign Ministers of the

Non-Aligned Movement. The Security Council should

better reflect changes in contemporary political and

economic realities. It should be more representative in

composition and more transparent in its functioning. It must

be more democratic in character. It must be more reflective

of balance between the North and South. It must, above all,

be capable of prompt action when peace is threatened. The

contribution of Member States to international peace and

security should be the guiding criterion for the selection of

Members of the expanded Security Council in both

permanent and non-permanent categories. Since the Security

Council is the principal instrument of the international

community in the area of collective security, I must

emphasize here that any reform must be the fruit of

ratifiable global consensus and must in no way diminish the

Council’s capacity for prompt and effective action to

maintain international peace and security.

In the view of my delegation, the reform proposals of

the Secretary-General, which deserve our appreciation and

support, are categorized in three broad areas: management

of conflicts and peacekeeping; strengthening and

integration at headquarters, and field levels of United

Nations development activities; and protection and

promotion of human rights.

Too often in the past, the United Nations has

suffered from a sore need for a capacity to act in the face

of conflicts. The Secretary-General must be encouraged

and supported financially to make use of his high office

for the resolution of emerging conflicts. When

peacekeeping operations are mandated by the Security

Council, the capacity of the Secretary-General to organize

and mount them in time should be strengthened.

Peacekeeping, to be effective, is dependent largely on the

maintenance of elements within the national armed forces

of Member States that can be made available promptly to

the United Nations. Sixty-six countries are now

participating in United Nations standby arrangements, and

I am happy to say that Nepal is one of the 10 countries to

sign the Memorandum of Understanding which commits

my country to contribute 2,000 troops, including doctors,

engineers, observers and headquarters staff and 200

civilian monitors for peacekeeping purposes, at short

notice. It is high time that the rapidly deployable mission

headquarters became operational.

Nepal is confident that the Secretary-General’s

proposals for a new United Nations Development Group

and a United Nations Development Assistance Framework

will provide clearer focus and direction to United Nations

development activities aimed at sustainable development

and the eradication of poverty. In Nepal, many of the

development activities carried out by the United Nations

are already practically integrated at the field level. Care

has to be taken, however, that in the name of integration

or merger, the demonstrated strength of individual

programmes, funds or agencies is not lost. We also find

the proposal for a Special Commission to look at the

division of labour among the various specialized agencies

across the United Nations system very interesting and

deserving of careful consideration. With a view to

achieving greater harmonization of international

development efforts, Nepal feels the need for a closer

relationship between the United Nations and international

financial institutions and the World Trade Organization.

Since peace, progress and humanity are the core

concern of the United Nations, Nepal, as a functioning

democracy with a deep commitment to human rights,

appreciates the intention of the Secretary-General to

strengthen and broaden the capacity of the United Nations

26

in the field of human rights. We welcome the strengthening

of the Human Rights secretariat and the choice of Mrs.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, as High

Commissioner for Human Rights. There could hardly be a

better choice. I wish to congratulate the new High

Commissioner and express the confidence of my delegation

that she will be an independent and credible defender of

human rights. We welcome her determination to narrow the

gap in the perception of human rights. She has rightly

observed that collective and individual rights are not

mutually exclusive and that the scope of human rights is

interlinked with social, cultural and economic issues

requiring a broad approach.

As a signatory of all basic international human rights

instruments and a participant in the World Conference on

Human Rights in Vienna, Nepal looks forward to the

fiftieth anniversary next year of the Universal Declaration

of Human Rights. Together with freedom of speech and

belief, the Declaration characterizes freedom from fear and

freedom from want as the highest aspirations of human

beings. Along with concerns for peace and sustainable

development, it is right that concerns for human rights

should also be made an integral part of the work of the

United Nations.

Peace in many parts of the world continues to remain

fragile. Nepal is deeply concerned over the setbacks in the

peace process in the Middle East. The settlements policy

has retarded the process. Nor has the spate of violence in

the region helped restore the mutual confidence without

which no peace process can succeed.

Without a resolution to the Palestinian problem, no

comprehensive, just and lasting peace will be possible in

the Middle East. We urge the concerned parties not to

deviate from their professed commitment to resolving the

problem through peaceful means.

The extension of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons and the adoption of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty represent a fine

moment in the history of nuclear-arms control and

disarmament. The Convention on Chemical Weapons has

come into force, to our great satisfaction. With the creation

of nuclear-weapon-free zones in South-East Asia and Africa

last year, we hope that efforts to create such zones in other

regions, such as the Middle East and South Asia, will be

relentlessly pursued.

Disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, means

nothing if it does not provide security to nations and

peoples. Only a complete elimination of nuclear weapons

will provide such security. It is in this spirit that we have

supported the programme of action advanced by 28 NAM

and neutral countries, members of the Conference on

Disarmament, for the elimination of nuclear weapons

through phases over a period of time. We are

disappointed by the complete lack of progress in this

year’s session of the Conference on Disarmament.

Nepal is in favour of strengthening the role of the

Conference on Disarmament as the principal global

disarmament negotiating forum.

Nepal welcomes the agreement in Oslo this month

on the text of a convention for the total ban on anti-

personnel landmines and will seriously consider signing

the convention in Ottawa in December. Landmines should

not be allowed to be used indiscriminately and to maim

and take innocent lives, including those of women and

children.

While the importance of the issues of weapons of

mass destruction cannot be overemphasized, it is to be

noted that it is conventional weapons that have killed the

most people throughout history. Therein lies the

importance of the United Nations Register of

Conventional Arms. The work of the United Nations

Panel of Experts on Small Arms, one of whose sessions

was hosted in Kathmandu this year, has laid the

foundation for future United Nations action in this area.

Confidence-building measures and regular dialogues

in informal settings represent an indispensable element in

the long and arduous efforts undertaken on behalf of

disarmament and security. I am pleased to note that the

United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and

Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, located in

Kathmandu, has been found to be a useful forum for such

informal dialogues on disarmament and security issues.

Nepal’s consistent participation in United Nations

peacekeeping operations reflects our abiding faith in the

ideals of the United Nations. Over the past four decades,

Nepal’s peacekeepers have served with pride in all

regions of the world under the United Nations for the

cause of peace. Many of the Nepalese Blue Helmets have

lost their lives and limbs in the pursuit of peace. Nepalese

soldiers have served the United Nations with dedication

and professionalism. Nepal will continue to serve the

cause of peace by responding positively and promptly to

every call for assistance from the United Nations.

27

The adoption of An Agenda for Development this

year, following protracted and tortuous negotiations over a

period of three years, is a welcome sign for the renewal of

development cooperation between the North and South. The

Agenda identifies groups of countries in special need: least

developed countries, Africa, landlocked developing

countries, small island developing countries and countries

with transitional economies. The usefulness of the Agenda

will be measured only in terms of its faithful

implementation. The provision of additional resources on an

assured and predictable basis is a prerequisite to the

sustainable development of the least developed and

landlocked countries.

The decision of the General Assembly last year

establishing the First United Nations Decade for the

Eradication of Poverty represents the long-awaited

recognition by the international community of the pervasive

nature of poverty, which today is the greatest threat to

peace, sustainable development and human rights. The

eradication of poverty, therefore, should be a core activity

of the United Nations. We recognize that this is the

principal thrust of the reform measures and proposals of the

Secretary-General. I wish once again to pledge my

country’s full support and cooperation to the Secretary-

General in this regard. Poverty alleviation is the priority

area of sustainable development planning in Nepal. A

massive programme is needed to reduce poverty in a

meaningful way.

The rapid decline of living standards today in almost

all the least developed countries and developing landlocked

countries is an ironic testimony to the gross marginalization

of those countries, despite the new trade regime that is

supposed to usher in an era of prosperity throughout the

world. This anomaly is further compounded by the

accelerating reduction of official development assistance to

the least developed countries. For the least developed

countries, and the landlocked among them, which suffer

from additional physical handicaps, foreign direct

investment cannot be a substitute for official development

assistance for some time to come.

I would like to affirm Nepal’s unreserved

condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and our

determination to prevent terrorists from deriving benefit

from their acts. It is our firm position that terrorism is a

threat to both internal and international security and to

peaceful relations between States. It is, moreover, a threat

to the growth and functioning of democratic institutions and

to the enjoyment of human rights all over the world. Nepal

will never allow its territory to be used by terrorists

against other countries.

Nepal holds the view that States should create an

environment in which people do not have to be displaced

or flee their countries as refugees. The number of such

people is in millions and, in the words of the Secretary-

General, unquantifiable. Nepal is also bearing the burden

of refugees. Nepal being a least developed and landlocked

country struggling to cope with the rising aspirations of

its people in a parliamentary set-up with deep human-

rights commitments, the burden is painful for us. We have

received international humanitarian assistance, for which

we are grateful. The magnitude of the problem for us can

be judged by the fact that one in every 200 people in

Nepal today is a refugee. We uphold the right of the

refugees to return to their home in peace and honour. His

Majesty’s Government of Nepal is determined to solve

the problem peacefully by dialogue.

Nepal is a founding member of the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Nepal is

actively pursuing a policy of promoting regional

cooperation and understanding under the umbrella of

SAARC, an Association which forms a critical part of our

broad policy of peace, friendship and cooperation with all

countries of the world in conformity with the Charter of

the United Nations and non-alignment.

The seven countries of the region are engaged in

various areas of cooperation, including the suppression of

terrorism and drug abuse, environmental preservation,

poverty alleviation and the promotion of regional trade.

We are endeavouring to harmonize the policies of the

seven member countries on important global issues. We

did so during the nineteenth special session of the General

Assembly devoted to environment and sustainable

development. Many ministerial meetings in the region are

now annual events. Foreign Ministers of the region will

be meeting in New York in an informal setting during the

annual session of the General Assembly. SAARC has

lagged behind other similar associations, but the countries

of the region are persevering in their efforts to develop

both the habit and concrete measures of cooperation.