Spotlighting LDCs

AS Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand said in his address to the 13th summit meet on Non-Alinged Movement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, the world body had to seize the opportunity afforded by the summit to reposition itself firmly in the changing global political and economic environment. In an address that presented the view of Nepal in a cogent manner on NAM, the world affairs, and the country's specific issues, Mr. Chand spoke perhaps for most of the world leaders in Kuala Lumpur when he emphasised that NAM had an urgent duty to seriously address the problems of developing countries and defend their common interests, with meaningful and synergistic partnership among themselves and with developed countries. No less significant was his assertion that NAM must join hands for the implementation of the pledges made by the international community, and that efforts should be made to ensure effective fulfillment of collective commitments on the eradication of poverty, creation of a fair world trading regime and adequate financing for development in a sustainable manner, with a special focus on the needs for the least developed countries. It is irrefutable that NAM has to rejuvenate itself in the changing world environment where however poverty and low economic growth remains the common denominator of its members who are developing countries. Particularly, the least developed countries like Nepal face monumental challenges in eradicating poverty and accelerating their economic growth. The developing countries in general and the LDCs in particular lack capacity and fair mechanisms to cash in on the virtues of globalisation.

Globalisation may be a fait accompli already, but it means little to most of the poor countries as they lack of wherewithal to secure gains from it. Indeed, there are legitimate fears that the pell-mell hurtling of the global economy down the globalisation path will leave many developing countries fallen by the wayside. Hence, it is imperative that a world movement like NAM has to be extra alert in reaching the voices of the global poor in various world fora and seek implementation of measures that enable them to at least reap some of the benefits of the globalisation. Mr. Chand brought to the fore the long-felt needs of many countries when he pointed out that providing debt relief and opening the developed countries' markets for developing countries in general and LDCs in particular, are measures that could set things right to some degree. For countries like Nepal, NAM's relevance as a movement would be largely validated only if LDCs' priorities, needs and difficulties are kept under the spotlight.

Vultures' Plights

AN ornithological research conducted in different parts of the country during 2001-2002 by the Bird Conservation Nepal, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and the Himalayan Nature, as per a news item carried by this daily the other day, revealed that vultures, mankind's clean-up servants who live by scavenging on filth, especially animal carcasses, are facing critical fatality in Nepal. This, in turn, is said to be raising fears in many quarters as to the imminent extinction of the different species of vulture that, for centuries, have scoured far and wide across the country in search for carrion. As such, undoubtedly it would be adding one more woe to the existing plethora of wildlife conservation problems faced by the nation. Of late, the nation in general and the concerned wildlife protection and conservation authorities in particular has been forced to face a host of problems in the wildlife preservation and protection sector. The wildlife protection and conservation problems confronting both the nation and the concerned authorities range from the decimation in the population of the rare freshwater Gangetic dolphins in the nation's rivers to protected wild animals like rhinos and elephants succumbing to the bullets and traps of poachers, from the encroachment of the protected preserves of wildlife species to the gradual destruction of natural habitats that not only support many unique eco-systems but are also the homes to a mind-boggling variety of flora and fauna. As if all this were not enough, now we are having to hear another unpalatable news-that the nation's different species of vultures are in an imminent danger of going the way of the Dodo.
That such excruciating problems, despite the timely enactment and strict enforcement of laws related to the protection, conservation preservation of the nation's rich bio-diversity, more particularly its unique flora and fauna, are surfacing do indicate that the concerned authorities need to renew their efforts if these protected species of flora and fauna were to be bequeathed to posterity. Concerning the vultures, they may not be as beautiful as the peacocks or the "daphes" (pheasants). Nevertheless, these birds are verily Mother Nature's gifts to not only humanity at large but also to her beautiful creation in that they, by picking the carrion clean, ensure a safe and healthy environment. As such, the vultures, like all other creatures on Planet Earth, have not only the right to survive but also increase their population.