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The U.N is most credible entity for playing a role in Nepali conflict
Y.K. Silwal
The United Nations occupies a very special place in the Nepalese psyche. It is not only in the foreign policy domain of Nepal that the world body is considered to provide a centrality. The last Fifty years of Nepal's close association with the UN gave Nepal a real sense of nationhood in a globalized environment.
A landlocked and least developed country, feudal to the core in social term and politically subjected by autocratic rule of more than a century followed by off and on high and low democratic and reactionary exercise in the later half of the twentieth century, Nepal's is a unique case. Because It was this very Nepal that managed to be independent in the two hundred thirty six years of its history till 1950 largely because of a deeply worked out strategy of the colonial power expanding in south and central Asia. That strategy started by forming a close relationship with the ruling elite of that time and with their concurrence associating the Nepalese manpower in the expansion of the empire, with relics continuing even after the collapse of 'the colonial days. Needless to say that while it ensured a continuing guarantee of Nepal's independence and sovereignty although in relative term, this benefited the rulers to perpetuate their autocratic rule. This historical phenomenon has left its legacy continuing till today in the form of very low development index, political uncertainty and conspicuous divide among classes, ethnic groups and so on.
This is the overall context in which Nepal became a member of' the U.N. in December 1955, five years after the overthrow of Rana autocracy. With this open international participation, Nepal got a psychological boost in the sense that it just not only became a part of the global order but also started to shed off the "yam between two stones "only complex so far dominating its profile throughout its history.
Once in the UN, the door was wide open to participate apart from the UN and its specialized agencies in several other international forums like the non-aligned movement, the group of 77 and other such regional conferences including even the one in Bandung, Indonesia which came out with the famous five principles of peaceful coexistence (the Panchsheel). While doing so they also provided opportunities for Nepal to take a stand on various issues.
Nepal's Participation in the peacekeeping operations started from 1958 i.e. almost right from the beginning continuing till today. This is a phenomenal development in its interaction with the outside world. What is more in the sixties, seventies and eighties it was among a select few of developing countries which was looked upon by an overwhelming membership as a very appropriate partner in the UN peace keeping process. This is what is often described as acceptability factor in the UN corridor. This was an advantage very few developing countries enjoyed. At a time when relation with Israel was a taboo for the overwhelming number of developing countries, Nepal had established its relation with Israel by accepting the reality of the right of statehood of all the states including both Israel and the Palestine people later established by the security council resolution 242 of 1967 and 338 of 1973.
But at the same time when Israel advanced towards Lebanon in 1982 it was the Nepalese contingent guarding the Khardala Bridge, which resisted the advance of the Israeli tanks and troops for two days. The resistance could not stop the Israeli army from its onward march but the fact that as one of' the peacekeepers in that volatile area, Nepal remained true to its commitment and offered whatever resistance was possible around the world. It was indeed a memorable development in the UN's peacekeeping record.
Nepal continues to be part in the peace keeping missions of' the U.N. today in various countries as observers and as peace keepers. No matter how the Maoist insurgency evolves in the days to come this participation must have the element of continuity which indeed is a great asset to not only Nepal but to the SAARC region as a whole.
In the late eighties the UN established one of the three regional centers for peace and disarmament for Asia and pacific in Kathmandu. The other two were set up in Lome in Togo for Africa and Lima, Peru for Latin America. The one in Nepal became operational although temporarily from the UN headquarters. Accordingly the centre has organized a couple of interaction programmes attended by prominent persons around the Asia pacific under the auspices of the under-secretary General of the UN, in Kathmandu. This is called a regional dialogue to promote peace and security in the region and is very often known as the Kathmandu process. TWO under-secretary Generals conducted this meeting here. One was Yashushi Akashi who is now active on behalf of Japan in the meditation process under the leadership of Norway. The other was Mr. .Jayant Dhamapala of' Sri Lanka as USG.
Nepal's profile in the UN as well as other world bodies including the nonaligned movement helped to create an environment in which the country was looked upon as a safe, friendly and universally acceptable place. This is the reason why the SAARC secretariat was established in Kathmandu, the UNICEF regional office shifted here and as earlier described the regional dialogue on peace and security in Asia pacific is held here.
Another distinct association with the UN started when U. Thant the then secretary General visited Lumbini in 1967 and took up the theme of making the birthplace of Lord Buddha as a center for international peace. As a follow up to his initiation a Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was given the task of creating a Master plan for the development of Lumbini, assisted and funded by UNDP. The master plan represents the basic physical infrastructure of Lumbini. Kurt Waldhaim the successor to U. Thant Visited Lumbini in 1981. Mr. Perez de Cuellar was the third U.N. Secretary General to visit Lumbini in 1989. While in Lumbini, he got himself acquainted with the master plan to develop that sacred site as international religious, touristic, historical, archeological and cultural centre.
Earlier in 1987, the Chairman of Lumbini Development trust Prince Gyanendra now His Majesty the King visited the United Nations in New York and together with Perez de Cuellar jointly addressed the eighteen members International Committee for the development of Lumbini. This was indeed a defining moment for Nepal and the world community in their pledge to develop in the words of Perez dc Cuellar "this holy site where one of the greatest men in history was borne."
It was in fulfillment of this pledge that on 15 December, 1999 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled - International Recognition of the day of Vaishak at the UN headquarter and other UN offices. As per the resolution (Rs. 54/115), the Buddha's birthday is internationally celebrated each year on the day of Vaishak, the day of' tile full moon in the month of May.
To remember just an important moment in this connection, Dr. Butros Ghali, the then Secretary General while welcoming the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in New York in 1993 had repeatedly made it a point to convey his ardent desire to visit Lumbini. The visit did not materialize because there was no renewed term for Dr. Ghali. Secretary General Kofi Annan visited Nepal in the course of' his visits to South Asian countries in March 2001. He was coming after Pakistan and could not make a trip to Lumbini in spite of UNDP's best efforts, because of a very busy schedule.
Today Nepal is affected by insurgency. Secretary General Kofi Annan has repeatedly conveyed the message that he is pained by the suffering of the people of Nepal and that he will be prepared to be helpful in resolving the conflict. His representatives have taken up this issue with decision makers in the Government. Unfortunately, nothing has come out. This may be the outcome of a terrible sense of obsession in the corridors of power in Kathmandu owing to one because of the sentiment of our neighbor and two because of the dilemma of political heavyweights about their future prospect if UN involvement is allowed.
The most credible entity to play a constructive role in the ongoing conflict is the United Nations, which does not have any other agenda except to bring normalcy in this country. This holds true because our association with the UN in the past fifty years have amply proved that it is a relationship, which is positive, productive and does not encroach upon our national interests as well as those of our neighbors. Resolution of the conflict in Nepal must be uppermost for the countries of` South Asia. Let us not forget one facet of the reality that this insurgency has its roots in poverty and depravation, which the South Asian countries have not been able to deal effectively. Let us therefore bring the United Nations and get them involved in the negotiations so that at the end of the day the UN will he the most acceptable and effective instrument in not only taking the parties along the road to trust and confidence but also by evolving a big economic and social package for the speedy rehabilitation and reconstruction of the country. Otherwise, to reach the Millennium Development Goal, MDG, of halving poverty by 2015 will remain a mere dream for not only Nepal but in effect the SAARC region itself.
Besides, the cost to the nation in every respect will be immense and unbearable.
The author presented this paper at a seminar held in Kathmandu recently. The author is ex-Secretary General, SAARC-editor.
Beslan Appeal: Let's Protect the Children of the World
People of Good Will,
Only five years ago mankind entered the 21st century and the third millennium. After the end of the cold war, as all the peoples of the Earth, we waited for this moment with the hopes for stable peace and development of humanistic principles free from ideological dogmas, prejudices and violence. These expectations were supported by technological progress of our civilization, which in the new context made it possible to fully realize the benefits of the unification of peoples, countries and international communities.
However, the events demonstrate that our civilization is once again facing the threat of being subjected to a critical test. The evil, in new disguise, intrudes into our common home of the people of the world and brassily settles there, the evil that defies national borders, violates moral and legal rules, ignores even the very logic of natural instincts. The name of this evil is terrorism.
On 1 September 2004 it chose as its next target a school in the town of Beslan in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania which is a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
For three days the terrorists have been holding in the mine-studded gym, without food and water, more than 1400 persons – teachers, children and their parents who came to celebrate the Day of Knowledge. On the third day they blew up the gym together with the hostages. As a result of explosion and subsequent straightforward shooting terrorists killed 330 persons including 178 children.
For the entire Russia 3 September 2004 has become the day of nationwide grief.
The Beslan tragedy demonstrated how terrorism in bad faith settles in the living space next to us and then pitilessly clears it of our children, depriving us of our future, eroding our most important feature – the trust in the Human Being and the confidence in him.
In our view, those forces that encourage the evil originate from the world of adults and by the will of adults should not any longer be the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of our children.
At the same time, this atrocity did not only shock the world but also aroused an incredible common feeling of compassion, an all-pervading drive of solidarity with the victims expressed by millions of sympathetic people.
It was the support offered by the people of good will that made us believe in the capacity of the mankind to resist this trouble as well if it is able to close the ranks to protect children, our common future against the filth of terror.
Therefore, on the eve of the first anniversary of memory of the Beslan terrorist attack victims we who have learnt by experience the bitterness of losses but have also perceived in trying moments the strength of unity of those who stand by the ideas of good and mutual assistance, call on nations and states, all people irrespective of their racial, religious, political and other differences to consolidate their forces in order to protect children of the world against terror and for the sake of the future of the entire mankind.
We must jointly turn the scale to provide peaceful childhood for new generations by assuming responsibility for the actions of political authorities, for the double morals and double standards prevailing in the world community, which divide peoples and thus give rise to protest, violence and destruction.
Let's protect the children of the World and the future from terror!
Beslan, 1 June 2005
Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Nepal
№ 40/2005
12.05.2005
Dossier:
Gender Responsiveness in Municipal Governance
Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) organized a one-day workshop on “Gender Responsiveness in Municipal Governance,” on May 26 at Hetaunda. Altogether 45 participants including 28 women representing 11 municipalities of the central region (Butwal, Hetaunda, Birgunj, Jaleshwor, Janakpur, Sindhuli, Malangwa, Jhapa, Ratnanagar and Bharatpur) took part. Participants were chief of gender unit, former women representatives and municipal officers and planners. Two women presented papers one from the GTZ and one from Butwal municipalities. The workshop focused on the analysis of gender concept, international human rights and women’s rights instruments, legal provisions in Nepal and gender responsive strategies in Nepalese municipalities. Experts identified 158 acts discriminating against women in Nepal, lack of budget (only 0.5 percent national budget is allocated for gender and development), problem in capacity building, etc. Participants demanded that such training should be organized in each municipality involving all the male members.
(The seminar have had deliberated on so many important aspects of the theme of the topic. Some of the points in the form of the gist are as follows-editor.
Gender Responsiveness in Municipal Governance in Nepal
Gender equality has become one of the major goal of FES’s international cooperation. Our objective is to enable both women and men participate equally in public and private life of society. We encourage our partner organizations to foster gender integration in most of their activities with the aim to contribute to the constitutional goal of creating a just society.
With the changing dimension of politics, sovereignty has been shifted to the people. Sovereignty of people means political power springs from the people. This is the reason modern politics requires the participation of all affected parties in the decision-making. In a similar vein, social transformation requires that the victims of society to constitute themselves a subject of history.
There is a strong connection between democracy and peaceful social transformation. A sound relationship of the people with the state is, therefore, important to make democratic development broad-based and governance effective. Only an effective governance can achieve its goals—security, rule of law, voice and participation and public welfare.
Polycentric Governance
Urban governance is polycentric encompassing many competing and often overlapping centers of decision making (elected bodies, schools, health posts, post offices, people’s cultural institutions, local business chamber, NGOs, civil society, etc) in which Women’s organizations share one civic space along with a number of other institutions. This polycentric framework of governance has significant bearing on making and enforcing rules, and affecting coordination, communication, collective action and conflict resolution.
The success of MuAN lies in applying the principle of subsidiarity that is, linking its local members to decision making level, generating a system of check and balance between macro and micro institutions of governance and creating competition in the provision of public goods and services. Providing gender justice is one way towards social democratization. Democratization of social life is a key to meaningful political participation and economic empowerment of women.
Emerging Policy Focus
The constitutional vision seeks to create an open society based on social justice. The development policies underlined in the 10 th five-year plan and Local Self-Governance Act 1999 also underlines the necessity of equal political and social integration of men and women in governance. These issues are equally articulated in the “reform agendas” of various political forces for national reconciliation and peace. Nepal’s development partners increasingly lay emphasis on “policy reforms” and “governance improvement” as conditions for development assistance. In both Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), Gender and Development (GAD) figures strongly.
To sustain the capacity of self-governance, however, requires the autonomy of local bodies and self-organization of people, both male and female, to solve collective problems, achieve common good and resolve conflicts. Institutional foundation of local self-governance becomes weak if women, more than half of the nation’s population, suffer from the paralysis of power. Politics of gender equality, therefore, seeks to achieve a politics of liberation from the unjust structure and political culture and a politics of choice in the negotiation of social contract with the family, community and the state. Gender politics essentially projects the voice, visibility, representation and identity of both male and female in the framework of governance involving the state, the market and all the intermediary bodies called civil society.
The Critical Challenges
Nepal has two distinct governance structures—a formal structure associated with the state and informal structures composed at the societal level by the people themselves. The MuAN is a part of civil society organized by the people’s representatives within the mandate of Local Self-Governance Act. It can become effective if there is an equal integration of male and female in its institutional set up as well as act for equal representation in urban governance. It is not the equality of opportunity but the equality of outcome that can foster gender equality. Here MuAN can organize the power of society to articulate and ensure the provision of public and collective goods. Trust among the MuAN authorities can facilitate collective actions. Has MuAN exploited the potential of its people’s power? Has it acted like entrepreneurs? Has it brought the issues of periphery into the center of decision making? What sort of civic engagements is needed for gender-sensitive urban governance? These are critical policy questions deemed essential to problem solving in such areas as representation, participation in policy making, infrastructure development, natural resource management, mobilization of financial resources and generation of social capital for development.
MuAN’s Energy
In Nepal municipal governance is a source of intellectual creativity, cultural and artistic activities, economic entrepreneurship, scientific achievement and political development. MuAN is also playing key roles in policy reforms, advocacy, watchdog functions, consultation, training and a number of development initiatives that can enhance the productive life of the people. Its partnership and cooperation with the state institutions, non-government organizations, civil society and private sectors is strengthening its utility in the nation. For, it has linked the aspirations of millions of rural poor migrating into cities to tap urban opportunities, facilitate locational mobility and eventually contribute to the rationality of gender equality.I hope, this seminar will be able to broaden the exchange of ideas and experiences about gender responsiveness in municipal governance.
Theme source: Dev Raj Dahal, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)
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