KATHMANDU: Nepal has welcomed the New Agenda for Peace issued by the United Nations Secretary General.

Terming it the significant approach and opportunity, Nepal said it is ready to cooperate with the UN in the peace-building efforts.

During an ambassador-level discussion on the New Agenda for Peace brought forth by the UN Secretary General, Chief of Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, Amrit Bahadur Rai, said it.

Recalling the election of Nepal as member of the UN Peace Building Commission recently, he said, “We are fully committed to giving our best as the Commission member.”

The Permanent Representative of Nepal to the UN went on to say that Nepal welcomed the UN Secretary General’s decision to float the New Agenda for discussions.

“This is more relevant when we face rising security challenges,” Rai said.

As he said, the peace-building process is shadowed by rising geopolitical competition in the world which had cultivated a ground of global insecurity and clash of interests among big nations.

“Existing geo-politics, socio-economic disparities and climate crisis have posed additional challenges to peace and security order. We believe the New Agenda for Peace will focus on utilization of our time, viability and investment to advance towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and durable peace,” he added.

Rai stressed the need for prioritizing political dialogues for the elimination of war and exploring ways for sustainable and inclusive development. He recalled the moment when peace was restored in Nepal with the end of an insurgency through the political talks and dialogues.

The restoration of peace in Nepal proved a milestone for finding a ground for proportional participation of women, youths, all religions and different castes and communities and so on in the State bodies.

He presented an idea of assessing, monitoring and managing security challenges in the preliminary phase to achieve durable peace and for the peace building.

Terrorism, violence against women and girls and extremists ideologies should be monitored and prevented through various dimensions.

Investment in development, institutional building and the promotion of human rights and the rule of law would contribute to minimizing and preventing war, he said, urging the UN to further strengthen the Peace Building Commission on the same basis.

He echoed the need for identifying appropriate fiscal resources to promote peace, development, human rights and the rule of law.