Kathmandu, October 28

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi participated in the United Nations Security Council debate on women, peace and security held in New York yesterday.

France, the rotating president of the Security Council for the month of October, presided over the debate which featured ministers and senior-level representatives from member states.

In his statement, Secretary Bairagi shared Nepal’s achievements in the promotion and protection of rights and interests of women since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 in 2006. He updated the Security Council on Nepal’s national action plan on women, peace and security, pursuant to UNSC resolutions 1325 and 1820.

Secretary Bairagi also underscored the importance of engaging women in the management of conflict and post-conflict peace-building, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Separately, Secretary Bairagi met President of General Assembly Mtroslav Lajcak and discussed matters of common interests. In the meeting, Bairagi appreciated Lajcak’s role in convening various high-level meetings on agendas of global importance and requested him to prioritise the agenda in favour of the neediest countries including LDCs, LLDCs.

Lajcak briefed about the upcoming high-level events including on youth, water, conflict prevention and financing for development that he would be holding during the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Appreciating Nepal’s active participation in past General Assembly sessions, he shared his confidence that Nepal would continue to do so, given Nepal’s significant contributions to peacekeeping and other multilateral initiatives. The two sides also exchanged views on important global agendas including Sustainable Development Goals, migration and climate change, the statement read.

Durga Prasad Bhattarai, ambassador/permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations, was also present during the meeting.