Nepal

NEPAL
(AS DELIVERED)
Intervention by Mr. Ghana Shyam Lamsal, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, New York at the Eighth Session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals under the theme “Conflict Prevention, Post-conflict Peacebuilding and the Promotion of Durable Peace, Rule of Law and Governance’
(New York, 7 February 2014)
Mr. Co-chair,
I have the honour to speak in my national capacity and to align my statement with the statements made by the distinguished Representatives of Iran and Benin on behalf of NAM and LDCs, respectively.
My delegation commends the role played by you Co-chairs in the conduct of the seven sessions of Open Working Group on various important themes, and expresses its full support to your current efforts and way forward towards framing the sustainable development goals. The Technical Support Teams also deserve our appreciation for their excellent issue briefs.
Mr. Co-chair,
Enduring peace, the rule of law and good governance constitute sine qua non for sustainable development. The rule of law, by virtue of its being a complex set of social, political and economic norms that govern human behavior in synergetic ways, reflects the respect for human dignity and justice in any society. The rule of law, thus, has social, political and economic dimensions and implications - both at national and global levels. The link between sustainable development and the rule of law was emphasized at Rio+20 Conference where all of us committed ourselves to strengthening the rule of law as a basis for sustainable development.
Well functioning system of justice and good governance, both sustenance of peace, are critical to building peace in conflict afflicted societies. Good governance and the rule of law are equally important to prevent the countries in post-conflict situation to relapse into conflict. Obviously, conflict reflects breakdown of the rule of law. So, we must work towards strengthening the rule of law for building peace on an unshakable foundation.
Mr. Co-chair,
Violent conflicts in a society often germinate from accumulated grievances that fail to be addressed and are often linked to failure of inclusive development and its broader dimensions. My delegation views that balanced integration of the three pillars of sustainable development with focus on poverty reduction, equity and justice should provide an answer to these burning challenges. The Government of Nepal has adopted a variety of strategies, including promoting broad-based, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; developing physical infrastructure; increasing people’s access to social services as well as the utility and quality of those services; enhancing good governance in public and private sectors; empowering all segments of people socially and economically for realizing sustainable peace and building on it.
As a country emerging from conflict, Nepal underscores the importance of addressing issues of social exclusion, discrimination, inequality, corruption, and violation of human rights. It supports strengthening the rule of law at national as well as international levels as complementary measures. In the post-conflict period of formidable challenges Nepal has been utilizing available windows of opportunity to strengthen basic security, deliver peace dividends, shore up and build confidence in the political process, and strengthen core national capacity to take peacebuilding efforts forward.
The current approach paper of 13th national plan of Nepal takes peace and development as two sides of the same coin and has defined strategies to achieve them in a more holistic manner. The government is providing compensation, reparation and resettlement as an interim relief to the victims of the decade-long armed conflict through special programmes such as conflict-affected area reconstruction and development for peace etc. Following the verification process, the Government of Nepal has completed integration of the qualified former Maoists combatants into Nepal Army and voluntary rehabilitation of other combatants with compensation package. With this, a major part of peace process has already come to a logical conclusion.
Successful holding of the second Constituent Assembly Election last November, which registered a record turnout of voters, has paved the way for making of an inclusive democratic constitution. It has also prepared ground for the formation of Truth and Reconciliation and Disappearance Commissions to address all conflict era violations of human rights and humanitarian laws in a holistic manner.
We believe, with a vision and strategy that aims at achieving these objectives early on, Nepal will be able to ensure sustainable peace, while also reducing the risk of further conflict.
Mr. Co-chair,
While each post-conflict situation poses unique challenges in strengthening rule of law, there are similarities in the basic nature of the problems. These include a lack of material, institutional and human capacity, and a resulting lack of confidence in the existing institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law. Weaknesses in these institutions and laws are often at the root of conflicts, which in turn pose threats to independence, impartiality and effectiveness of these institutions.
Strengthening rule of law also includes timely changes in the body of laws. Such changes enhance capacity in the dispensation of justice, which in turn relies on the capacity of local administration and processes such as investigation, prosecution and delivering of justice as well as prisons management. Strengthening the rule of law envisages that all these aspects go hand in hand.
The new global governance framework for SDGs should ensure that all SDG policies, programs and initiatives are supportive of and responsive to the special needs and priorities of the countries emerging from conflict.
Mr. Co-chair,
With regard to proper inclusion of Conflict Prevention, Post-conflict Peacebuilding and the Promotion of Durable Peace, Rule of Law and Governance into SDGs we have the following concerns and recommendations:
• The rule of law is of enduring importance to translate development policies and strategies into living realities. We call for addressing the rule of law as part of the post‐2015 development agenda in a holistic manner.
• Owing to complementary place and role of peace and development, the strong inter-connectedness should be fostered further and investment in one should also be considered as long term investment in another and their synergy should be harnessed to the fullest.
• The balance between universality of goals and specificity to context should be reflected in approaches to promoting the rule of law through the post‐2015 agenda.
• Progress made by LDCs in the field of good governance, rule of law, protection and promotion of human rights needs encouragement and be bolstered by means of moral and material support. These measures require to be duly reflected in the SDGs.
• Sustainable peace, rule of law and good governance should be integrated as sinews into the overall goals of sustainable development.
• Integration of commitments made in Istanbul Programme of Action (IPOA) for the LDCs in the SDGs and proper and balance the issues in question.
• The new global governance framework for SDGs should ensure that all SDG policies, programs and initiatives are supportive of and responsive to the special needs and priorities of the poorest and the most vulnerable countries such as the LDCs, and LLDCs emerging from conflict.

To conclude, Mr. Co-chair, Nepal believes that the issues of Conflict Prevention, Post-conflict Peacebuilding and the Promotion of Durable Peace, Rule of Law and Governance deserve an important place in the post-2015 development agenda and looks forward to working closely with all for its due reflection in sustainable development goals.
I thank you.