Nepal, 2014

I bring with me warmest

greetings from the people of Nepal and their best wishes

for the success of the sixty-ninth session of the General

Assembly. I congratulate the President of the Assembly

on his unanimous election and wish to express our deep

appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

commitment and dedication.

We commend the Secretary-General for convening

the Climate Summit. The momentum generated at the

Summit should pave the way next year for a binding

agreement on climate change, with long-term and

comprehensive global commitments for climate

solutions based on the principles of common but

differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective

capabilities. It is an irony that the world’s most

vulnerable countries happen to be the worst victims

of climate change through no fault of their own. There

should be special provisions for climate financing,

separate from regular official development assistance,

so that the mitigation and adaptation needs of the least

developed countries and small island developing States

can be addressed.

Terrorism is anathema to humankind. It is a

serious threat to peace, security and development.

Nepal unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its

forms and manifestations. We share the concern

about the growing scourges of terrorism, extremism

and religious fundamentalism. In that context, we

welcome the convening of the Security Council summit

meeting earlier this week (see S/PV.7272) and support

the adoption of resolution 2178 (2014), on foreign

terrorist fighters. We appeal for an early conclusion of

a comprehensive convention on international terrorism

and the effective implementation of the provisions of

the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Nepal believes that terrorism can best be tackled under

the auspices of the United Nations with a coordinated

global response.

Peacekeeping has emerged as the central activity

of the United Nations and an innovative tool for

dealing with challenges to peace and security. Nepal

is proud to have contributed to the maintenance of

international peace and security through United

Nations peacekeeping operations in troubled parts

of the world. Nepalese Blue Helmets have been

commended for their professionalism and commitment

in trying circumstances. We are currently the fifth-

largest troop contributor to that flagship activity. With

ever-greater commitment and dedication, Nepal will

continue to participate in peacekeeping operations

and to promote gender equality through the increased

participation of women in peacekeeping. We urge this

world body to give due consideration to the safety and

security of peacekeepers. Nepal calls for equitable

leadership opportunities, commensurate with Member

States’ troop contributions, to be made available both at

Headquarters and in the field.

Nepal stands for general and complete disarmament,

covering all weapons of mass destruction, in a

time-bound, verifiable and effective manner. We

call upon Member States, especially nuclear-weapon

States, to halt militarization in all spheres and step up

measures for disarmament in order to free up much-

needed dividends for development. We wish to see an

enlarged role for the United Nations Regional Centre

for Peace and Disarmament in Asia, which is based in

Kathmandu.

As a least developed and landlocked country, Nepal

faces structural constraints and pervasive and complex

development challenges. My delegation underlines the

urgency of addressing the special needs of the least

developed countries (LDCs) and supporting them

with the provision of enhanced resources for inclusive

development.

Nepal calls upon the international community,

particularly donors, to fulfil all the commitments made

in favour of LDCs. We underline the timely, full and

effective implementation of the Istanbul Programme of

Action for LDCs. Nepal aims to graduate from LDC

status by 2022. An enhanced level of international

support to build our productive capacity, improve supply-

side capacity, minimize shocks and vulnerabilities and,

above all, bring about structural transformation will be

critical to meeting that target.

Nepal remains fully committed to the protection

and promotion of human rights and has put the

required institutional mechanisms in place. We remain

constructively engaged with all United Nations human

rights mechanisms and the international community

in the protection and promotion of human rights. We

reject politicization and selectivity in the application of

human rights standards.

My Government is determined to bring about a

dignified closure of the past dating back to the armed

conflict. We believe the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission and the Commission on Disappearances

will help put our past behind us and prevent a

recurrence of grave violations of human rights. I want

to reassure the international community that there will

be no blanket amnesty for grave crimes. We underline

the need to ensure the rights and well-being of migrant

workers.

Nepal has always supported the call for a just,

lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East

and an end to the spiralling conflict in the region.

We recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian

people on the basis of United Nations resolutions and

encourage Israel and Palestine to live as neighbours

within secure and recognized international boundaries.

The situation in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria

demands a more proactive United Nations engagement.

While supporting the independence, sovereignty and

territorial integrity of those countries, we urge the

United Nations to play an active role in finding a political

settlement and helping those countries move towards

national unity, reconciliation and reconstruction.

We hold the view that the people of Ukraine should

enjoy the right to freely decide their destiny without

any outside interference.

Our unwavering faith and long struggle for a

democratic system of governance has given us the

strength to mainstream the armed Maoist rebels into

a peaceful democratic process and lead a successful

transition from autocratic monarchy to democratic

republican order, thereby setting up unique models. The

political parties in Nepal, including the Maoists, are

now working together to have a democratic Constitution

promulgated through the elected Constituent Assembly.

My Government remains committed to bringing the

parties both within and outside the Assembly on board

within the framework of constitutionalism, political

pluralism and the rule of law, to put the country on the

path of peace, stability, development and a democratic

system of governance.

We greatly appreciate our neighbours, India

and China, the United Nations, our friends and well-

wishers in the international community for their

support for and solidarity with our peace process and

development efforts. We firmly believe that democracy

is indispensable for peace, progress, stability and

prosperity. Peace, democracy and sustainable

development are inextricably linked and mutually

reinforcing. Development is not possible in the absence

of peace, which, in turn, cannot be attained in the

absence of democracy.

The post-2015 development agenda becomes truly

transformative only when the pressing needs and

priorities of the most vulnerable and marginalized

countries and societies are faithfully integrated into the

broader global agenda and are provided with sufficient

resources to achieve them. A holistic development

process does not leave an unfinished agenda behind,

so the remaining tasks of the Millennium Development

Goals should be fully incorporated in the post-2015

agenda.

We consider corruption to be the biggest enemy

of the people and a threat to peace, stability and

development. My Government has underlined the

importance of transparency, accountability and zero

tolerance for corruption as prerequisites to improving

the quality of governance and delivering results to the

people.

Nepal’s foreign policy is inspired by the purposes

and principles of the United Nations. People’s aspirations

for peace, stability, progress, decency, dignity and

prosperity are firmly embedded in it. We strongly

believe that peaceful coexistence, mutual respect

for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,

non-interference in the internal affairs of other States,

and equality and mutual benefit should constitute the

fundamental tenets of inter-State relationships.

Reforms of the United Nations, including the

Security Council, need to reflect contemporary realities

for making it more effective, representative, responsive

and capable of handling increasingly complex global

problems. We support the expansion of membership

in both permanent and non-permanent categories. The

seventieth anniversary of the United Nations, next

year, should be an occasion to ensure the representation

and increase the voices of developing countries in the

Security Council. In that context, Nepal reiterates its

support for the desire of India, Japan, Germany and

Brazil to serve as permanent members in the expanded

Security Council. We also believe that the African

continent and Member States that have contributed to

the maintenance of international peace and security

should also be given due consideration in any expansion.

In seven decades of the United Nations, it has been

found to be most successful when we honour the letter

and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and

the decisions we make. B.P. Koirala, the first elected

Prime Minister of Nepal, while addressing the General

Assembly at its fifteenth session, in 1960, said,

“The real solution of the world’s problems,

including the problem of world peace and prosperity,

lies in the direction of strengthening and extending

the authority of the United Nations. This authority

will be strengthened and fortified if the decisions

of the United Nations are respected faithfully and

loyally by all Powers, great and small.” (A/PV.878,

para. 235)

In conclusion, my Government reiterates its

profound commitment to the purposes and principles of

the Charter of the United Nations as the embodiment of

peace, progress and prosperity.