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United Nations & Nepal

Press statement by Ian Martin, Personal Personal Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal

17 January

A great deal has happened on several fronts since I spoke with you last. I had a good trip to New York, where I briefed Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the Security Council. Both the Secretary-General and the Security Council were encouraged by the steady progress here in Nepal toward consolidating peace, and were highly supportive of establishing a new UN Mission in Nepal in response to the request of the Government, to be known as UNMIN. The Security Council is well advanced in its consultations on the text of a resolution, based on the Secretary- General’s report, establishing UNMIN. It is fitting that these steps come at the same time that Nepal’s interim constitution has been promulgated and the interim legislature established - further historic accomplishments by the people of Nepal.

We have also seen significant progress in moving forward with the UN monitoring of arms and armies. The full advance contingent of 35 UN monitors is now in Nepal. Monitors have been deployed to operate out of offices in Nepalgunj and Kathmandu, and an advance team has gone to Biratnagar to establish an office there.

The registration of Maoist army arms and combatants began yesterday at the main cantonment sites in Chitwan and Nawalparasi. We have also established our basic facilities and quarters at the main site in Surkhet, and by early next week will have done so at all seven main sites. The registration process is being supported by teams of registration experts on loan from UNDP in Afghanistan who are training Nepalese registration officers. In addition, we have had excellent cooperation and support at the sites from the Interim Task Force.

The beginning of the registration process has gone smoothly. We will not be announcing daily totals of weapons or personnel registered at the sites, although we will obviously be sharing this information with the concerned parties at an appropriate juncture and expect it to be made public only at the end of the process. Our monitors have also had productive field visits to meet and interact with Nepal Army commanders. We expect that the Nepal Army will be positioned to quickly store an equal number of weapons, in accordance with the agreements, under the single key arrangement as the registration process concludes.

Just this morning the Joint Monitoring Coordinating Committee held its seventh meeting, and we continue to be very pleased with the excellent cooperation among all three parties within this important mechanism for communication, coordination and information-sharing. Among the many issues discussed, the JMCC has agreed on all the satellite cantonment sites, with the relocation of one site being set in motion today.

Our international electoral assistance team continues to grow with the arrival of Dr. Fida Nasrallah, our Chief Electoral Adviser, on Monday. At the invitation of the Chief Election Commissioner, the team is in the process of moving its offices to the Election Commission to enable them to work even more closely with their counterparts. The international electoral assistance team has also made substantial progress toward securing broad donor support for the voter registration process. UN technical assistance activities are currently focused on facilitating procurement of equipment, donor coordination and assistance with the development of the legal framework.