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The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has said that Nepal’s transitional justice process should meet the international standards, the Supreme Court’s ruling and the needs of the conflict victims.

Speaking with media persons after meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the head of the global body stated that Nepal has embarked on the final stages of the peace process with progress on transitional justice process. Government is making preparations to present an amendment bill in the federal Parliament for endorsement but conflict victims and the international community are expressing dissatisfaction over some of the provisions. They are of the view that there still is room for blanket amnesty in the proposed bill.

Transitional justice must help bring peace to victims, families and communities, the secretary-general said, The United Nations stands ready to support Nepal to develop a process that meets international standards, the Supreme Court’s rulings, and the needs of victims—and put it into practice.

The UN Chief, who arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday, said he is in Kathmandu to strengthen the deep friendship and cooperation between Nepal and the UN.  Nepal has a long and proud tradition of championing peace and multilateralism, he said, and the United Nations is hugely grateful to Nepal for “your support for multilateral solutions—backed up by the enormous contribution you make to peacekeeping missions around the world.”

“Nepal’s progress over the past 20 years has been astonishing: You have become a republic, established peace and thrown yourselves behind the Sustainable Development Goals and climate action.” The next few years will be decisive, as Nepal prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country status, he said. Nepal is also caught in a blizzard of global crises not of its making: The aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation caused by the international economic situation and the enormous threat posed by climate chaos, the UN Chief said. “Much more international action is needed. Developed countries must step up to support sustainable development, and help developing economies including Nepal to tackle the climate crisis.”

On this trip, I will visit the Himalayas to see for myself the terrible impact of the climate crisis on the glaciers, he further said, describing the situation as “dire and accelerating”. 

He said: Nepal has lost close to a third of its ice in just over 30 years. And glaciers are melting at record rates. The impact on communities is devastating and I will meet local people in the Himalayas to hear directly from them about how they are affected. 

The UN head also spoke about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. 

We are living in difficult and tense times, he said. “I know that even though the conflict in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, it has hit very close to home for the people of Nepal.”

The UN head extended his deepest condolences to the families of the 10 Nepali students killed in the terror attacks by Hamas in Israel on Oct 7, and extended his best wishes for the safe return of Bipin Joshi, who is missing.

“And I repeat my utter condemnation of the appalling attacks perpetrated by Hamas. There is no justification, ever, for the killing, injuring and abduction of civilians,” he said. 

“The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hours. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations.”

Guterres said he would also visit Lumbini, Gautam Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal “to reflect on Lord Buddha’s teachings of peace and non-violence, which are more relevant than ever in our deeply troubled world.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is currently on an official visit to Nepal, is scheduled to visit Sagarmatha (Everest) region today. After that he will leave for Pokhara in the afternoon.

The UN high official will leave for the Everest region on a Nepali Army helicopter depending on the weather and he will converse with the locals on topics related to how climate change has affected their daily lives, it has been learnt.

After returning from the Everest region, the Secretary General will hold a meeting with the UN team in Nepal at the UN House in Lalitpur, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. Following this, he will leave for Pokhara in the afternoon.

Secretary General Guterres is accompanied by Under Secretary General for Peace Operations, Jean Pierre Lacroix, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations to Nepal Hanaa Singer-Hamdy and other officials from the UN Headquarters in New York and the United Nations country team in Nepal.

The UN dignitary arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day official visit at 1 am on Sunday at the invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

On the first day of his visit on Sunday, Secretary General Guterres called on President Ram Chandra Paudel at Sheetal Niwas and exchanged views on matters of long-standing partnership between Nepal and the United Nations.

Earlier the same day, the Secretary General had a meeting with Prime Minister Dahal at his office in Singh Durbar. Following the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Secretary General briefly addressed the media.

Secretary General Guterres also held a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire in the afternoon on Sunday. Matters relating to Nepal-UN relations were featured during the discussion.

Earlier the same day, the Secretary General held separate meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka, and Minister for Foreign Affairs N P Saud in Singh Durbar. Various aspects of Nepal-UN relations and co-operations were discussed during the meetings.

Secretary General Guterres also held separate meetings with former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and former Prime Minister and leader of the main opposition Party in the House of Representatives, KP Sharma Oli on Sunday afternoon.

The Secretary General also visited Patan Durbar Square, the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later in the evening, Prime Minister Dahal hosted an official banquet in honor of the Secretary General of the United Nations Guterres and his delegation.

In the course of the visit, the UN Secretary General will also be going to the Annapurna Base Camp and Lumbini.

He is also scheduled to address the joint sitting of the Federal Parliament on October 31, Tuesday, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

Wrapping up his visit to Nepal, Secretary General Guterres will leave Kathmandu on November 1.

The official visit of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to Nepal from Oct 29 to Nov 1 is a testimony of the excellent bonds between Nepal and the United Nations that have grown from strength to strength since Nepal joined the world body  in 1955. It may be recalled that since the last visit by then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2008 at the peak period of the country’s transition from conflict to peace, a political settlement of burning issues has already been achieved following the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015.

Subsequently, socio-economic transformation and shared prosperity upheld by sustainable development are the prime agendas of the nation. 

The United Nations decision to graduate Nepal into a developing country in 2021 with a grace period of five years and the World Bank’s elevation of Nepal into a lower-middle income country (in June 2020) are indicative of advancements the country is making. At the same time, emerging global challenges and the domestic challenges that have cropped up due to continuing vulnerability, structural impediments and capacity constraints pose a threat to developmental gains. 

The purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and the idealism of peaceful, cooperative relations of all nations of the world, connecting all humanity, has inspired the fundamental tenets of the constitution of Nepal.

In fact, Nepal has initiated and continued to set all major universally-acclaimed values and ideals through its Constitution, laws and policy initiatives, which largely go in line with the ultimate goals and principles of the global body.  

The challenges of implementation in a way bear similitude, albeit to a smaller extent within our national context. Looking at some of the opportunities that we can tap in the global and national contexts by working closely together with the United Nations system, it is relevant to touch upon some crucial ones in the context of the Secretary-General’s visit. Three functional pillars maintaining peace and security in a geopolitically transforming world through the semblance of equity and justice have always been most formidable.

The UN as a member-driven organization is always effortful in this priority agenda. In recent times, it has not been able to contain and peacefully resolve the Russia-Ukraine war. We have to see how far the UN General Assembly resolution passed on the ceasefire of the Israel-Hamas war goes in restoring mutually-acceptable peace and security in the Middle East. 

Any conflicts, hostilities or confrontations have repercussions in a globalized and connected world, the most vulnerable economies having to bear the brunt of these eventualities. It is satisfying to note that Nepal has been at the forefront of the UN peacekeeping operations, currently occupying the position of the second highest troops-contributing country. It has almost been a sole area in which Nepal is willing and able to make contributions to the global community. Aspirations to be a number one troops contributor in relation to the South Asian neighbors, who are also among the highest contributors in this regard, will add to the national honor and prestige. 

A South Asian Peacekeeping Training Centre to be located in Nepal and managed and operated with collective efforts is a cherished goal to be achieved. As Nepal has significantly enlarged the magnitude of participation in the peacekeeping operations, seeking enhanced roles for the security personnel in higher leadership and management positions, both at the headquarters and the fields, is but natural. On the development front, the UN’s continued endeavor to forge a common global agenda and actions through campaigns like MDGs and SDGs are innovative and welcome steps. 

This has raised hopes among billions of people in the Global South for integration of their countries and societies in the development mainstream, thereby making a positive movement toward equitable and just world order as a foundation of peace. If the UN had the power to marshal resources needed for these noble endeavors in an equitable manner, the world would have been a better place to live for everybody. As a country in need of more development assistance and technical support, ensuring smooth flows of these scarce and valuable resources through UN and other donor countries in a coordinated form during transition to graduation and beyond is essential for our nation. 

An important area in which we can take pride is the big transformation in the human rights regime of the country over the last two decades. In relation to what has already been achieved in human rights regime in comparable developing countries and, to some extent, even in certain specific areas in some developed countries, the commitments made through the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 and relevant laws, and subsequent progress made in crucial areas of human rights in a relatively shorter period of time is phenomenal. Nepal needs further human, physical and institutional development and a support of international rule of law and rule-based international order to sustain this momentum to a satisfactory end.

At this juncture, however, a mention of the transitional justice (TJ) mechanism that Nepal has made commitments to the Nepali people and the global community at large through the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and all relevant actions of the peace process that followed the CPA is relevant. It should not remain as a blemish in a very successful peace process that concluded, in a way, following the constitution writing, sans this important component.

The amendment to the relevant legislation, under consideration in the Parliament, to bring it to an all-acceptable level in the best interest of the conflict victims and for the sake of lasting peace and reconciliation of the Nepali society, is being completed soon. Bringing the TJ process to its logical conclusion to meet the expectations of the national and international communities would set examples for countries trying to exit from conflict situations. 

The Prime Minister as well as the Minister for Foreign Affairs made various interventions in the 78th UN General Assembly in Nepal’s capacity as coordinator of the Global LDC Bureau. It is a very positive gesture on the part of the Secretary-General that he accepted our Prime Minister’s invitation when Nepal is in a position to work together with the global community to champion the cause of the global LDCs. 

The UN mechanisms—through ECOSOC, CDC, UNOHRLLS and various specialized agencies, funds and programs—have put up all-out efforts within their capacities to ameliorate the situation of the LDCs. More is necessary from able and willing member-states to contribute to overcome the structural constraints and vulnerabilities suffered by the LDCs on various fronts of sustainable development. 

Nepal now finds a suitable forum to collate the genuine socio-economic, human, environmental and trade concerns of the LDCs and work toward global consensus for enhanced and accelerated support for the 46 least developed countries, constituting a sizable 13 percent of the global population. Though having met the graduation criteria for two consecutive terms of the UN Committee on Development Policy, Nepal’s graduation by 2026 suffers a high degree of vulnerability because of the recent global economic slowdown, rising inflation, resurgent trade barriers and increased geopolitical tensions. 

Notably, Nepal has never met the UN criteria set for GNI per capita index, unlike other graduating countries. It means there is much more to do in the promotion of economic diplomacy at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels. The national players must have a clear and coherent picture of our scope and limitations and push hard toward realizing the proven potentials the mountainous country harbors.

Importantly, Nepal’s Graduation Strategy should be brought out sooner than later in order to dovetail all available support and cooperation from the world community for a sustainable and irreversible graduation. Nepal may not remain an LDC after graduation, but it will still carry on the tag of LLDC and the handicaps it causes on overall development and enhancement of export trade.

Enhancing and enlarging connectivity of efficient and effective transport networks, policies, institutions, technological advancements, ideas and innovation within the region and beyond, therefore, needs to be guided by our political vision and commitment. 

The UN Framework for sustainable development of LLDCs has remained a useful guideline for global cooperation, the potentials of which must be maximized. 

Climate change and other crises 

The UN system and its evolving mechanisms are most suitable to fight the catastrophic effects of climate change and avert or manage the impacts of pandemics like Covid-19 collectively. 

Also, a strengthened, rule-based and fair global system alone will be capable of curbing the menace of drugs, illegal arms, smuggling and other transnational crimes. The LDCs require climate justice as they collectively emit less than four percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, but bear the brunt of climate change. Support for adaptation and mitigation as well as compensation for ‘loss and damage’ already suffered by these countries in unequivocal terms is what is necessary.

Nepal alone has projected requirements in excess of $46bn equivalent of resources for implementation of long-term adaptation plan, which is believed to be far more important climate action. The uniqueness of the mountain terrains, and the heightened urgency to tackle disproportionate rise in temperatures, which is detrimental to billions of people living in the downstream areas for dependency of life-supporting water resources, have been less talked about. 

Hopefully, the Secretary-General would be able to see with his own eyes how devastating and quick transformations climate change has been making in the higher Himalayan region of Nepal when he visits Syangboche in Solukhumbu and Annapurna Sanctuary in the Annapurna massif in the course of his scheduled visits to these important touristic sites. 

Many seemingly internal issues, which are causing a lot of suffering, but which are not of our own making, must be highlighted and brought to global attention during propitious occasions like this. Our geopolitically sensitive location, highly mountainous terrains, less developed economy, meager export base and trade, and a socio-economic transformation process that still suffers from transitional policy gaps and institutional weaknesses seek enlightened pragmatism and inspirational guidance from our liberal, human rights-oriented and ideally-construed Constitution. 

All other downstream developments get positively transformed thereof. The UN can function well in a friendly, cooperative and ideal global milieu for which the values and principles emanating from conventional wisdom, idealism and idealistic realities are beacons to govern the complex and complicated world in the interests of the entire humanity. 

The author is a former PR/Ambassador of Nepal to the UN

Visiting United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that Nepal's efforts made to its graduation from LDC are praiseworthy.

Talking to the media after his meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the UN Secretary General also said that Nepal has played a key role in maintaining world peace and resolving multilateral issues.

"Besides peace building, Nepal has made positive achievements in political transformation in the past 20 years,' he said.

"Much more international action is needed. Developed countries must step up to support sustainable development, and help developing economies including Nepal to tackle the climate crisis.”

Saying that he will see the terrible impact of the climate crisis in Nepal, UN Secretary General Guterres argued that the developed nations should help Nepal in this regard.

On the occasion, Guterres said that the transitional justice process in Nepal must help bring peace to victims, families and communities and added that Nepal's transitional justice should meet international standards, the Supreme Court’s rulings, and the needs of victims.

Moreover, he urged to end the nightmare for the people of Gaza, Israel and all those affected around the world.

The UN Secretary General expressed his sympathies to the bereaved families of 10 Nepalis who lost their lives in Israel and hoped for the safe release of missing Bipin Joshi.