5 Jan 2011

UN / NEPAL

The UN top official in Nepal presents the 16th and final report of the Secretary-General before the UN Mission in that country ends its mandate on 15 January. UNTV

Posted at: January 5, 2011 6:44 pm

Duration: 02:15

Available in: SD

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STORY:  UN / NEPAL
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.15
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 5 JANUARY 2011, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

5 JANUARY 2011, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, Security Council
3.	Med shot, delegates
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Karin Landgren, Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal and Head of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN):
"Despite many problems, Nepal's Interim Government between April 2007 and August 2008 reflected agreement to share power. Since the elections, the parties have found it extremely difficult to maintain consensus and to find satisfactory power-sharing arrangements. They recently floated the idea of a rotational system of leadership, but did not reach agreement. At issue is not merely whether a new government can be formed, but whether Nepal's peace process can move forward without it."
5.	Med shot, delegate
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Karin Landgren, Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal and Head of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN):
"Parliament has now been summoned for January 9th, and it appears unlikely that a new government will be in place by the time UNMIN's mandate expires. Mr. President, growing differences within the major political parties continue to add to the mistrust between the parties. In recent years the internal processes of all the major parties have arguably become significantly more open, participatory, inclusive and democratic, in line with provisions of the Interim Constitution, but there is divergence, within the parties, on the peace process itself."
7.	Med shot, delegates
8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Karin Landgren, Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal and Head of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN):
"Although the process is still incomplete, the Mission has performed its mandated tasks, and has, I am convinced, contributed significantly to the peace process. The mission has faced high expectations from the public and the parties, well beyond its limited mandate, as core political disputes can only be resolved by the parties themselves."
9.	Med shot, delegates
10.	SOUNDBITE (English) Gyan Chandra Acharya, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations:
"The way it has been presented, it looks as if we are moving towards a failure. I would like to state here, in no uncertain terms, that we are not looking at the failure of the peace process. We are working hard to ensure the successful transition towards consolidation of peace."
11.	Pan left, Security Council
 
STORYLINE:

The United Nations top official in Nepal today (5 January) presented the 16th and final report of the Secretary-General before the UN Mission in that country, known as UNMIN, ends its mandate on 15 January.

Karin Landgren, who is Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Representative in Nepal as well as Head of UNMIN, expressed concern to the Council about the political deadlock that has followed the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal last June.

She noted that the parties "have found it extremely difficult to maintain consensus and to find satisfactory power-sharing arrangements" and said that at issue "is not merely whether a new government can be formed, but whether Nepal's peace process can move forward without it."

Landgren told the Council that "it appears unlikely that a new government will be in place by the time UNMIN's mandate expires" and added that although the internal processes of all major parties have become "significantly more open, participatory, inclusive and democratic", there is divergence within the parties "on the peace process itself."

Speaking about the role of the UN Mission, Landgren pointed out that "although the process is still incomplete, the Mission has performed its mandated tasks" and has contributed "significantly to the peace process."

Taking the floor after Landgren, the representative of Nepal, Gyan Chandra Acharya, stressed that "we are not looking at the failure of the peace process" but instead, Nepal is "working hard to ensure the successful transition towards consolidation of peace."

The Secretary-General's report notes that the biggest challenge remaining will be to integrate 19,000 personnel from the Maoist army which fought a decade-long civil war.

Other issues could also lead to fresh conflict and Ban calls on all sides to make the necessary compromises, overcome their mistrust and put the country's needs above their partisan interests.