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Nepal's
peace process on track but challenges remain
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New
York, 24 July 2007 (UN News)
The
ongoing peace process in Nepal appears on track to deliver peace and stability,
but the national political scene there become more complex and challenging
in recent months, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a new report,
urging efforts to maintain the positive momentum.
"Renewed
and expanded efforts will have to be made to sustain the successful trajectory
of the peace process," Mr. Ban states in his latest report on Nepal, where
a peace accord signed last November formally ended a decade-long conflict
that killed an estimated 13,000 people.
Among
recent challenges, Mr. Ban cited the postponement of the Constituent Assembly
election, which was originally scheduled for mid-June but is now slated
for 22 November because regulations governing the process were not ready
in time.
Mr.
Ban warns that failure to ensure a credible election within a realistic
and well-planned period could have a serious impact on the unity of the
country's eight ruling parties and their ability to function in unison
within the existing coalition.
A
successful election is the "central element" of the country's democratization
process, the report stresses.
"The
stakes are too high," he writes, adding that "complacency or differences
over secondary issues cannot be allowed to threaten or deny the people
of Nepal the realization of their ardent desire for sustainable peace."
He
adds that the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) - tasked with supporting the
election - continues to advise that "considerable work needs to be done"
if the Constituent Assembly election is to be held this November.
The
overall human rights situation in the country continues to be "worrying,"
Mr. Ban states. The main concerns are linked to inadequate public security
and law enforcement and to unresolved issues of discrimination regarding
representation and inclusion in the political process.
Meanwhile,
the UN announced that it has signed the necessary agreements with the Government
of Nepal to pave the way for the establishment in Kathmandu of the UN Regional
Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific.
The
Centre, created by the UN General Assembly in 1987, has been operating
out of New York since 1989.
"Over
the last 17 years, the role of the Regional Centre has been dramatically
transformed from the original task of disseminating objective disarmament
information to an important partner of the Member States and other constituents
in the Asia-Pacific region for the common cause of a better and safer world,"
stated its Director, Tsutomu Ishiguri.
The
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, assisted by the UN Development Programme's
country office in Nepal, is working with the Nepalese Government to relocate
the Centre to Kathmandu within six months.
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Source:
UN News 2007
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