KATHMANDU, Sept 26: Prime MInister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that his government is determined to take the peace process to a positive conclusion as envisaged in the Comprehensive Peace Accord of 2006 between the then government and the CPN (Maoist).
He said this would be done by building consensus among the political parties through dialogue and consultations. [break]
Speaking at the the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, the prime minister outlined four major tasks of the government: taking the peace-process in Nepal to its positive conclusion, writing a new constitution through the Constituent Assembly within the stipulated time-frame (by May 2010), speeding up the country’s economic development for the upliftment from poverty, and meeting and managing the rising expectations of the people in the new democratic environment.
Saying that Nepal has made overall progress over the last three years, he added there was reason to be forward looking and optimistic about Nepal’s peace process. "Like in every post-conflict situation, there are ups and downs and obstacles in the way," he further said. "Managing the legacy of the violent past with justice and reconciliation and mainstreaming all the forces into a democratic order are major challenges before us."
The prime minister also called for support. "For the positive conclusion of the peace process and institutionalization of our hard-won democracy, I request for special support from the development partners in addressing our post conflict development challenges."
In the address to the UNGA made available by his press advisor Bishnu Rijal, the prime minister paid particular attention to the threat posed by climate change and asked the world leaders to work toward matching concrete actions to deal with the threat.
The prime minister reminded everyone of the fruitful discussion at the Summit on Climate Change convened by the Secretary General in the city.
"I urge all to keep up with that spirit of positive thinking and work together to converge all our efforts to find a just and effective solution to this ever enlarging problem of climate change," he said said.
He referred to the severe threat that Nepal faced by pointing out that global warming has led to unprecedented melting of the Himalayan snow and the country has seen an annual increase of 0.06 degree Celsius temperature between 1997 and 2000.
The UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen later this year should be able to "seal the deal", he said, "and work out a new global compact to address the problem of climate change beyond 2012 in keeping with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities with special considerations given to the characteristic vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the least developed and other developing countries".
He also touched upon a subject that was the talking point globally for over a year. "The global crises have posed a serious challenge to the fight against poverty in the LDCs," he said. "The MDGs can still be achieved if all of us in the international community act together and act constructively."
In this context, Prime Minister Nepal called for the implementation of the outcome of the UN Conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis held in New York in June this year as well as early implementation of the outcome of the international conference on Financing for Development held in Doha last year.
Pointing out the severe impact on migratory labor, he urged the international community to take a comprehensive approach and policy towards migration, including on the protection of the rights of migrant workers in the face of current economic crisis.
He laid special emphasis on the reforms of the United Nations. "We stress on the need for introducing timely reforms in the UN and its operational mechanisms in order to enhance its role and relevance in the emerging new global order for the 21st century."
He also called for institutional reform in the United Nations. "We hope that the intergovernmental negotiation started by the General Assembly would lead to a significant reform of the UN system including the Security Council by adding new members in a fair and equitable manner so as to reflect the current realities of the contemporary world."
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