UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrives in Nepal on a four-day official visit

Published On: October 29, 2023 08:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Oct 29: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day official visit to Nepal, on Sunday.

Secretary-General Guterres will participate in high-level meetings today. He is scheduled to hold a meeting with President Ram Chandra Paudel and engage in discussions with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other top leaders from major political parties. Guterres is also scheduled to address the media jointly with Prime Minister Dahal and explore the historical heritage of Patan Durbar Square on Sunday.

On Monday, the secretary-general will visit Syangboche in the Everest region to assess the impacts of climate change and engage in discussions with the local residents. In the afternoon, he will fly to Pokhara from Syangboche.

On Tuesday, Guterres will fly to the Annapurna Base Camp to interact with local journalists regarding climate change issues. In the afternoon, he is scheduled to fly to Lumbini and participate in prayers for global peace. These visits to the Everest region and Annapurna base camp aim to provide a firsthand look at the impacts of climate change.

Officials at the MoFA stated that the primary focus of this visit is climate change and strategies to mitigate its effects on livelihoods.

Upon returning to Kathmandu from Lumbini, he will address the joint session of the federal parliament on the same day. The UN secretary-general will depart for New York on Wednesday morning, as per the itinerary.

This visit marks Secretary-General Guterres’ first visit to Nepal since assuming office on January 1, 2017. The visit was initially planned for the second week of October but was rescheduled due to the surprise attack in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.

Prime Minister Dahal had earlier extended invitations to Guterres to visit Nepal during their meetings in New York in September and Rome, Italy, in July. During those meetings, Prime Minister Dahal urged Guterres to observe Nepal's progress in the peace process and the challenges posed by climate change.

This visit is Guterres's second to Nepal, with his previous visit occurring in May 2007 when he served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. During that visit, he inspected the Goldhap refugee camp in Jhapa and discussed a third-country resettlement plan for the Bhutanese refugees.

The UN secretary-general will be accompanied by Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean Pierre Lacroix, the UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, and other officials from the UN Headquarters in New York and the United Nations country team in Nepal.

It is worth noting that most UN secretaries-general have visited Nepal in the past. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Nepal in October 2008 at the invitation of Prime Minister Dahal.