EU to continue to engage in Nepal's peace process

KATHMANDU, Dec 24: The European Union in a press statement on Thursday has said that it would like to continue being “deeply engaged” in Nepal and is always “eager to support the existing partnership.” The EU also pledged a “renewed support” to the Nepal government in its ongoing endeavors to write a new constitution and ensure peace and stability. [break]



It said that the assistance being provided to Nepal could be used in a more meaningful and constructive way “only if the concerned stakeholders bury their differences and realign their efforts to conclude successfully the peace process, which lately has been faltering.”



The EU has appealed to all concerned to engage in the main task of peace building and constitution writing, which it said would enable “improved results for development assistance” from the international community.



The EU and its Member States are Nepal´s largest development partners, providing more than 40 per cent of annual development aid.



Peace building, education, trade facilitation, food security, energy and environment, support for democratization, improving human rights and health conditions through NGOs are some of the prioritized areas where yearly grants to the tune of 35 million euros (about Rs 3.6 billion) have been allocated from the EU budget.



In addition, the other key area of assistance comprises “Food Facility” under which the EU has provided a total of 23.5 million euros to address growing food insecurity in eastern, central, mid-western and far-western regions of Nepal. The projects are being run by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Program (WFP) and four NGOs in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Nepal Government and the line agencies working under it for the period 2010-2011.



The EU has been showing its unwavering commitment to the protection of human rights in Nepal through assistance and projects supported by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).



The statement also said that as EU is well aware of the energy crisis in Nepal, it has set up the renewable energy project that aims to install solar panels in the remote villages of Nepal. A sum of 15 million euros has been set aside for the project.



The statement has made a special mention of the support being extended to the Nepal Peace Trust Fund (NPTF) contributed collectively by EU member states.

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