KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 27
Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal has highlighted the threats to global peace and prosperity arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, inequalities, and climate crisis and stressed on stronger solidarity and cooperation in the international system to overcome them.
Addressing the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday in the capacity of the head of the Nepali delegation, he emphasised pandemic control as the top priority for the world and called for vaccine equity and universal vaccination to save lives. He informed that Nepal had vaccinated more than 96 per cent of the target population while thanking neighbours, India, and China as well as development partners for supporting Nepal in the achievement of this milestone.
The foreign secretary stated that interlinked global challenges seriously hampered the achievement of sustainable development goals, particularly for countries in special situation like the LDCs, LLDCs, and Small Island Developing States.
According to a press release issued by the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York, Secretary Paudyal also mentioned that Nepal was on the path of graduation from the LDC category, despite the huge investment and capacity gaps for structural economic transformation and implementation of SDGs. He called for enhanced level of development assistance, foreign investment, debt relief, aid for trade, and technology transfer in support of Nepal's graduation process He also stressed the need for immediate implementation of climate finance goals to address the climate crisis faced by developing countries and reiterated Nepal's commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emission by 2045, as expressed by the prime minister in CoP26 in Glasgow.
He also urged reforms in international financial architecture for an equitable economic order.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 28, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
