Statement by Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to the Meeting of Heads of State or Government of Major Troops Contributing Countries Hosted by H.E. President Barack Obama, New York, 23 September 2009

President Barack Obama

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me begin with my sincere thanks and appreciation to President Barack Obama for taking this very important and timely initiative to host this meeting of the major troop contributing countries to the UN at this level. This is first of its kind and reflects your commitment to the success of multilateralism. I also take this opportunity to extend my warm congratulations to President Obama for assuming the Presidency of the Security Council and wish the President a great success in carrying out this great responsibility.

Excellencies,

Conflicts have always been a matter of deep concern for the international community. Under the UN Charter, the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security lies with the Security Council. Peacekeeping evolved out of necessity and has now become a very visible and important component of UN activities across the world although it is not explicitly stipulated in the Charter itself. Peacekeeping proves that United Nations can adapt itself to new situations and change and adjust accordingly.

In our view also, peacekeeping constitutes the core function of the United Nations. In the absence of UN peacekeeping, the world would have seen more conflicts raging around the world, more lives lost and international peace and security exposed to greater threats.

Soon after joining the UN in 1955, Nepal has been participating in the UN peacekeeping activities for over five decades. Even during the internal conflict in our own country, we continued to send our troops to the UN for peacekeeping purposes.

We are proud of our men and women who have served as blue helmets and contributed to the maintenance of international peace and security with professionalism, honesty, impartiality and dedication. We would like to remember those peacekeepers who laid down their lives for this noble cause.

Excellencies,

As one of the major troop contributing countries with a long and continuous experience in UN peacekeeping, I would like to submit that:

Over the years peacekeeping has undergone a major transformation. Complex operations have now evolved ranging from acting as buffer in inter-state conflicts to ceasefire monitoring to post-conflict stabilization and peace building. We need to be more innovative to make peacekeeping a more efficient and effective undertaking.

Unless we dovetail peacekeeping with peacemaking and peacebuilding, experience tells us that conflicts might relapse sooner than later leading to even more complicated spiral of conflicts. Holistic support is required.

Our quest for peace and security asks for functional consensus among diverse actors in order to ensure a unity of purpose in peacekeeping. Links between unaccounted proliferation of small arms and its impacts on peacekeeping need to be understood.

There are political, managerial and logistical challenges to peacekeeping. This calls for a comprehensive review. Clarity of mission, effective coordination, flexibility to adjust to the ground realities, and strong institutional support reinforce the effectiveness of peacekeeping. It also demands strong leadership and political will with the backstopping of a concrete strategy. We have great expectation that under your leadership much needed consensus will be solicited in order to come up with necessary reform measures for UN peacekeeping.

As the fifth largest troop contributor, Nepal remains committed to continue participating in the peacekeeping operations at the call of the United Nations. We stand ready to enhance the current level of participation if there is support for contingent-owned equipment, which constrains our capacity for timely deployment.

Coordination and effectiveness will also be strengthened and enhanced by having more people in the headquarters as well from the countries participating in UN peacekeeping operations.

More logistic support and training support for the troop contributing countries would be useful to enhance our effectiveness.

Mr. President, you have championed the cause of change in the United States. I am confident that this meeting will help open a new vista to usher the necessary “changes” in the UN peacekeeping operations and generate a new wave of optimism in the work of the UN.

We all would like to see the United Nations grow as a vibrant and robust institution capable of meeting all the new and emerging challenges faced by mankind.

I wish President Obama every success in all your endeavors, and I assure you of our full cooperation and support.

Thank you all.