Nepal

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.