Rt. Honorable Speaker addresses the 121st IPU Assembly

Rt. Honorable Speaker addresses the 121st IPU Assembly

Press Release

Chairman of the Constituent Assembly and the Speaker of the Legislative Parliament, Rt. Honorable Subash Chandra Nembang, has said that organized transnational crimes today stand as the most serious threat to international peace, security, development and promotion and protection of human rights.

Speaker Nembang was addressing the 121st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva today.

Addressing over 125 Parliamentary delegations from around the world, Rt. Honorable Nembang said, while the advancement of technology has increased mobility of human beings in a scale and proportion never before seen in history, they are also found to have been grossly misused by criminal elements to expand criminal networks and their mobilization for harming the humanity. This is a threat to all states and societies.

He further said, “combating these challenges is a tall task of our time requiring concerted cooperation at all levels – national, regional and international for our efforts to be effective”.

Speaker Nembang called for early initiatives at the global level to address these scourges in an earnest manner. “These efforts require our collective resolve to promote cooperation, strengthen coordination and ensure full compliance with what has been committed through the strengthening of the existing institutions and building partnership. The role of UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and universalization of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, including the Palermo Protocols on human trafficking and smuggling of migrants and the Protocol on Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking in Firearms, could be crucially important in this direction”, he further elaborated.

Highlighting the efforts to combat organized crime in Nepal, Rt. Honorable Speaker said, “we have initiated sensitization campaigns against the potential threat of human trafficking and harmonized our legal provisions, strengthened national institutions, reformed legal and criminal investigation procedures and enhanced the capacity of our law enforcement authorities with a view to prevent transnational organized crimes. We have augmented security measures and increased vigilance to prevent all varieties of cross border crimes, including the smuggling of arms and ammunition and trafficking of human persons”.

He also highlighted Nepal’s ratification of regional Conventions aimed at fighting terrorism, human trafficking and the Optional Protocol to the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

The full text of the Rt. Honorable Speaker’s statement is attached herewith for ready reference.

Honorable Posta Bahadur Bogati Addresses the 121st IPU Assembly

Likewise Chief Whip of the Nepal Communist Party Unified Maoist, Hon. Posta Bahadur Bogati, also addressed at the Assembly today.

Speaking on the theme of the Millennium Development Goals, Hon. Bogati said failure to achieve MDGs will be a collective failure of the humanity. There is a role and responsibility on the part of every one to realize those goals solemnly promised by the 147 Heads of State and Governments nine years ago.

Hon. Bogati said, “the series of global crises- the economic and financial crisis, food crisis, fuel crisis, and the adverse effects of climate change have disproportionately affected the developing and the least developed countries in particular and their poor and vulnerable populations.”.

He further said, “as we have covered nearly a decade after the Millennium summit, the countries in the South which are the subject of MDGs have accumulated wealth of experiences, low cost good practices and locally generated knowledge that could be shared with the fellow countries in the South and thus set an example of South-South cooperation in the attainment of MDGs”.

Stating that the countries in the South require viable economic condition supported by sound trade and development environment, he called for the early conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda and put development at the center of the negotiation process, providing special and differential treatment to the least developed countries, unhindered market access to products originating from the LDCs, technical assistance and capacity building support to LDCs to overcome supply side constraints, and investment in the human as well as infrastructure development.

“All these promises made to the LDCs have remained largely rhetoric. A just, fair, and equitable trading regime can address the priorities, concerns, needs of the LDCs and play an important role in achieving MDGs,” he further stated.

Hon. Bogati also called upon the developed countries to meet their commitments of providing to the LDCs 0.20% of their gross national product by 2010 in official development assistance. There is also need for predictability of aid flow and supporting national capacity building and development programs, he said.

The full text of the statement delivered by Hon. Bogati is attached herewith for reference.

Honorable Laxman Prasad Ghimire Addresses the 121st IPU Assembly

Similarly, Chief Whip of Nepali Congress, Hon. Laxman Prasad Ghimire, addressed the 121st IPU Assembly today.

Speaking on the theme of “Youth Participation in the Democratic Process”, Hon. Ghimire said that “the young people around the world have been the harbinger of change and catalyst of democratic process. They are the most energetic, innovative, dedicated, and committed generation of our society.”

All major political transformations and changes that have taken place in every corner of the world have witnessed decisive role of the youth. They have been forces of change, tide of resistance against autocracy and symbol of social force in defense of democracy. Their participation in social, political, and economic sphere of the society can help nation building and consolidation of democracy, he elaborated.

Hon. Ghimire stressed on the enhancement of qualitative participation of the youth in the real decision making process of the countries, be it in the political parties, national institutions or the Governments. “Though youth participation in political and democratic process has increased in quantitative terms, they still lag behind in influencing the core decision making process of the national as well as the international polity”, he said.

He further said, “only through acceptance of youth as a critical stakeholders and ensuring their meaningful participation in sustaining the democratic process can institutionalize democracy. For that requires accepting the youth as the owner of the democratic process not merely an instrument of change”.

Referring to the heroic sacrifices of the youth in all major political transformation in Nepal, he said the role of the youth for the cause of democracy is always taken with high respect and pride. The changes in the age structure of the composition of our parliament is encouraging with 204 under 40 members out of 601 in the Constituent Assembly, he said.

He highlighted that the Parliaments are the most appropriate forums for the youth to articulate their visions and impact collectively in the qualitative development of the democratic process and called for the formation of Youth Parliamentarians Caucus in Parliaments and a Caucus of Youth Parliamentarians in the IPU to work together for the promotion of young people’s participation in the international Parliamentary institutions as well.

The full text of the statement delivered by Hon. Bogati is attached herewith for reference.

Permanent Mission of Nepal

Geneva

October 20, 2009