KATHMANDU: Nepal has called for integrating the right to development into global financing, trade, debt relief and development cooperation, stressing that sustainable development should be recognised as a fundamental human right rather than merely a policy goal.
Addressing the event “Right to Development at 40: Catalysing Global Partnerships for Inclusive and Sustainable Development” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Nepal’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Lok Bahadur Thapa, said the international community must turn global commitments into concrete action.
Ambassador Thapa highlighted that only 18 percent of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets are currently on track, with just four years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
According to Nepal’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, Thapa emphasised the need to mainstream the right to development across all areas of global cooperation, including financing, trade, debt relief and development partnerships.
He also called for ensuring meaningful participation in development processes and strengthening accountability mechanisms to make development efforts more inclusive and effective.
Thapa further stressed that countries furthest behind, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), should not be viewed as beneficiaries of charity.
Instead, he said these countries should be recognised as rights holders under commitments made by the international community.
Comment