Nepal

On behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf, I should like at the outset to congratulate Mr. Razali Ismail on his unanimous election to the presidency of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly, and to express my happiness at seeing a fellow Asian, from Malaysia, with which my country enjoys the best of relations, guiding our deliberations. I pledge to him the full cooperation of my delegation. I wish also to thank Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral for having guided the fiftieth session of the General Assembly to a successful conclusion. My profound appreciation and gratitude also go to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his tireless efforts in quest of a world of peace, progress, justice and humanity. The past five decades have seen the United Nations striving to fulfil its Charter objectives. Yet peace and prosperity — mankind’s highest dream — remain unrealized. Conflicts, enormous cruelty, poverty, hunger and, of late, population and environmental problems, have been relentlessly on the rise. The United Nations, which has limited resources at its disposal and is thus ill- prepared to deal with such situations, has become the target of increasing public criticism. The tendency to focus on the Organization’s set-backs while ignoring its record of real and substantive success threatens to undermine the raison d’être of the United Nations. Those formidable odds notwithstanding, the world body has achieved a great deal of success in the field of peace, democracy and human rights. It has many recent achievements to its credit, in Namibia, Mozambique, Cambodia, Haiti and El Salvador, to name but a few. Thanks to the efforts of the United Nations, the hope for stability and democracy has been a living reality in those countries. The presence of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization continues to make a difference in the Middle East. Similarly, the United Nations has exerted efforts to keep and mediate peace in many countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America through use of its good offices and through peacekeeping operations. In spite of perceived setbacks suffered by the Organization in some peacekeeping operations, which were undermanned and lacked clear-cut mandates, we must not forget the real good that has been achieved through the prevention of further genocides, the provision of massive humanitarian relief and paving the way for political settlements. A year ago, many world leaders gathered here to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. With a deep sense of optimism, they took stock of the past and present performance of the Organization, as they also pondered the future course that it may have to traverse. They reaffirmed their faith in the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter, renewed their commitment to the world body and pledged their support to enable the Organization to come to grips with new realities and challenges. No doubt the fiftieth anniversary 14 underlined the need to reactivate the United Nations as the centrepiece of international relations, thereby further deepening our hopes in the world body. Nepal takes comfort in the fact that the Dayton peace process has provided the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a chance to realize their long-cherished dream of a peaceful homeland. The recently concluded elections, we hope, will contribute to a lasting peace in the Balkans, and we take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to all who contributed to this election process. We are equally happy to be part of this peace process through our contribution of civilian police monitors to the International Police Task Force and the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, under the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We hope that the next local elections will also be held peacefully. Last year in this Hall I said that the peace process in the Middle East had become irreversible. That is still the view of Nepal, but the recent aggravation of the situation, involving heavy loss of lives and consequent negative implications for peace, has given us deep concern. It is my earnest hope that the recent Washington summit meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat will restore trust between the two sides and be instrumental in the immediate resumption of serious negotiations within the Middle East peace process. More than any other country, the landlocked country of Afghanistan has been a victim of the cold war, and the Afghan people are still suffering from its far-reaching consequences. We hope that peace prevails in that country. Nepal, however, was deeply concerned at the flagrant violation of the United Nations sanctuary. We believe that United Nations peacekeeping operations are indispensable in the maintenance of international peace and security. Nepal has been a major troop-contributing country to peacekeeping missions of the United Nations. Over the years we have participated in various peacekeeping operations with a total of 30,000 troops and hundreds of civilian police. Our commitment to United Nations peace initiatives continues undiminished. Nepal supports ongoing efforts for the establishment of a rapidly deployable Headquarters team in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Secretariat, within the framework of a system of stand-by arrangements to enhance the rapid response capabilities of the United Nations — a system to which Nepal has made a stand-by commitment to provide up to 2,000 troops and 200 police monitors. Work on such a Headquarters team should proceed in a transparent manner and involve all interested Member States, particularly troop-contributing nations. We believe that it should be composed of staff recruited by the United Nations. The United Nations is unfortunately beset with a chronic financial crisis, which has seriously impaired the Organization’s ability to perform well. Despite the year- long meetings of the High-level Open-ended Working Group on the Financial Situation of the United Nations, the financial health of the Organization is still precarious, and cross-funding of the regular budget from the peacekeeping account is becoming almost the rule rather than the exception. The continuation of such practice, which invariably results in late reimbursements to the troop-contributing countries, is detrimental to the rapid deployment capability expected of the United Nations. The capacity of the United Nations to plan and execute peacekeeping missions will be greatly undermined if the present financial crisis persists. Without a secure financial base, the international community cannot expect the United Nations to play the role demanded of it in the maintenance of international peace and security. Modern peacekeeping missions, involving complex intra-State conflicts combined with massive humanitarian relief operations, expose peacekeepers to an unprecedented level of danger. It is therefore only fitting that those brave harbingers of peace who are put in harm’s way be treated on an equal footing by the United Nations. We hope that a just system of death and disability compensation, as mandated by the fiftieth session of the General Assembly, will be established soon. For Nepal, the recent adoption by the General Assembly of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a landmark in the history of nuclear non-proliferation and arms control. We hope that it is the culmination of our efforts to ban nuclear testing once and for all. We believe that the conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty brings us a step closer to our dream of a nuclear-weapon-free world. It is precisely for that reason that Nepal supported the Treaty, to which I put my signature yesterday on behalf of my country. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is only a partial fulfilment of our Treaty commitment to pursue in good faith the goal of the total elimination of nuclear 15 weapons. With the adoption of the Treaty, it has become more urgent than ever that we seriously consider other priority issues of nuclear disarmament in a practicable, time-bound framework. In this regard, Nepal wishes to underline its support for the programme of action recently put forward by 28 non-aligned and neutral countries for the elimination of nuclear weapons through a phased programme. In recent times, substantial progress has been made in the creation and expansion of nuclear-weapon-free zones. The Treaty of Bangkok and the Treaty of Pelindaba have established South-East Asia and the continent of Africa, respectively, as nuclear-weapon-free zones. Indeed, these are steps, in the best tradition of the Treaties of Tlatelolco and Rarotonga, that could contribute greatly to the cause of nuclear disarmament and the global nuclear non- proliferation regime. We earnestly hope that efforts will be intensified in the Middle East and in our own region of South Asia so that the goal of nuclear-weapon-free zones becomes a reality in those regions as well. We are of the view that our efforts towards the goal of total nuclear disarmament must be matched by efforts to achieve the non-proliferation of other weapons of mass destruction. We therefore fully support measures aimed at imposing a total ban on chemical, biological and other inhumane weapons, including the production, sale and export of anti-personnel landmines. In this regard, I am glad to say that Nepal is now at the final stage of completing the necessary constitutional process in order to ratify the chemical weapons Convention, which we have already signed. As host to the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, my delegation wishes to emphasize the need for institutional arrangements for the strengthening of the World Disarmament Campaign. The Kathmandu Centre has contributed to international, regional and subregional dialogue aimed at transparency and confidence-building in the areas of disarmament and security. In his annual report on the work of the United Nations, the Secretary-General notes that the past year witnessed a determined effort by the international community to take action to end the scourge of terrorism. I would like to reaffirm the commitment of Nepal to the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism adopted by the General Assembly two years ago. The reform of the Security Council is considered necessary to make that crucial organ of the United Nations more reflective of contemporary realities. We agree that any expansion of the Security Council must accommodate the interests and concerns of the bulk of the total membership, to redress the existing imbalance and anomalous representation. Any agreed formula for expansion, in our view, must take into account the issue of equitable global representativity. The selection of the members of an expanded Security Council should be guided by the contribution of Member States to the maintenance of international peace and security. Having said that, I want to emphasize that since the Security Council is the principal instrument of the international community in the area of collective security, no expansion or reform should diminish in any way its capacity for prompt and effective action to maintain international peace and security. The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round has made it clear that no country can ignore the globalization process, which is gaining tremendous momentum. At the same time, the acceleration of this process of global economic integration has failed to narrow the gap between the developed and the developing countries. The economic situation of many countries of Africa and the least developed countries is further deteriorating, and those countries are being marginalized because of unfavourable conditions prevailing in the global market in the trade of their exportable products. Furthermore, those countries lack national capacity in terms of technology and product development capability and also face various tariff and non-tariff barriers to their exports abroad. The situation of the landlocked developing countries among the least developed countries is further exacerbated by the high costs associated with the production and transportation of their exportable commodities and their difficulty in maintaining the tight delivery schedules demanded by the global market. Without direct access to the sea and given the absence of a significant market base within their boundaries, those landlocked countries cannot offer any of the comparative advantages so essential to attracting foreign investment. Additional financial resources and the transfer of appropriate technology, accompanied by concrete measures to offset those built-in handicaps, are the bare minimum requirements. We expect that the WTO ministerial meeting at Singapore will take this reality into account and ensure that the 16 products of the least developed countries are given free and unrestricted access to world markets in order to facilitate the integration of those countries into the liberalizing and globalizing world economy. It is with great distress that the developing countries, and in particular the least developed countries, witness the steep decline in the resources of United Nations operational activities for development. The least developed countries need the enhanced support of those agencies more than ever, since most of them have embarked on far-reaching reforms. In the absence of the flows of direct foreign investment now available to many developing countries, the least developed countries that lack basic physical infrastructure and material resources have nowhere else to turn. The efforts of the organs of the United Nations system engaged in providing technical and advisory assistance to the least developed countries, particularly the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), need to be supplemented adequately by the Bretton Woods institutions and regional financial institutions to arrest and reverse the declining economic and social situation of the least developed countries. The solidarity of the support received from the representatives of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 during the recently concluded ministerial meeting of least developed countries is an expression of understanding and an acknowledgment of the responsibility of the international community to the least developed countries. We are confident that the emphasis given by the leaders of the Group of Seven at the Lyon Summit on the need to assist the least developed countries and to integrate them in the global economy will be backed by concrete actions. South-South cooperation is another important component of international economic cooperation that should be further explored and promoted. The Government of Costa Rica deserves our appreciation for its generous offer to host a South-South conference on finance, trade and investment in January next year. In recent years we have witnessed a decline in the economic conditions of more and more people, especially those from the developing countries, who now comprise a population of 1.3 billion people living in poverty. The Declaration of the year 1996 as the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and the Declaration of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, beginning in 1997, must be taken seriously if poverty is to be eradicated with renewed vigour and dedication. The eradication of poverty must be a priority agenda for all multilateral development institutions. In this regard, we express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for his initiative to establish, through the Administrative Committee on Coordination, inter- agency task forces to oversee coherent implementation by the United Nations system of various cross-sectoral issues covered in recent major international conferences. It is heartening to note that one of the task forces, which is on the creation of an enabling environment, is chaired by the World Bank. We look forward to the reports of the task forces, which are expected in April 1997. We are confident that the special session of the General Assembly on the Rio Declaration to be held in June of next year will be successful in achieving the objective of acquiring new and additional resources to implement Agenda 21. We urge the developed countries to honour the commitments they have made at major international conferences, including those at Rio, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and Istanbul. We are deeply concerned at the declining level of official development assistance to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries. We are happy to see that the Framework Convention on Climate Change has entered into force and is being implemented effectively. We are at the same time concerned about the Convention on Biological Diversity, which has not been ratified by many countries. I am especially pleased to say that the Parliament of Nepal has already ratified the International Convention to Combat Desertification. We are firmly committed to the Charter obligation to promote and protect fundamental human rights for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. My delegation is closely following the negotiations that are taking place in the Third Committee working group established to oversee the recommendations of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The Fourth World Conference on Women was a landmark in reaffirming the equal rights of women, and focused our attention on the important aspect of the equal participation of men and women in development activities. We in Nepal are serious about implementing the outcome of that Conference, with the creation, initially, of a separate Ministry of Women and Social Welfare. 17 Political strife, ethnic conflicts and the denial of basic human rights in many parts of the world have resulted in an influx of a large number of refugees, mostly women and children. We express our appreciation to the High Commissioner for Refugees for her untiring and continued efforts to take care of refugees around the world, despite the limited resources at her disposal. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deserves our special praise for providing necessary food and other services to some 100,000 refugees in the camps in eastern Nepal. His Majesty’s Government of Nepal upholds the right of every refugee to return to his or her homeland safely and with dignity. The Government will make every effort to solve the problem of refugees from Bhutan through mutual discussion and understanding. As a critical part of our broad policy of peace, cooperation and friendship with all countries of the world on the basis of the Charter of the United Nations and the principle of non-alignment, Nepal is pursuing a policy of promoting regional cooperation and understanding under the umbrella of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). We celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Association last year. The seven countries of the Association 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. It is a fact that SAARC is far behind other similar regional cooperation arrangements, but the countries of the Association, particularly Nepal, are persevering in their determination to develop both the habit and concrete measures of cooperation, understanding and peace among the South Asian partners.