UN Resident Coordinator Julliand completes her tenure

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 30

Outgoing United Nations Resident Coordinator Valerie Julliand completed her tenure in Nepal today. She has been appointed by UN Secretary General as UN Resident Coordinator for Indonesia.

Julliand has termed the relationship between the Government of Nepal and the UN as “one of mutual respect and collaboration”.

“When I first arrived in Nepal, the country was recovering and reconstructing after the 2015 earthquake – a feat that would be daunting and challenging for any country. As I leave, Nepal faces the COVID-19 pandemic and its immense socio-economic impacts,” said Julliand adding, “UN will continue to work together with the Government of Nepal and its people to recover from this crisis, build back anew and lay foundations for a gender-equal, more inclusive and climate-friendly Nepal.”

During her tenure, UN in Nepal signed its five-year partnership agreement (UNDAF 2018-2022), supported earthquake reconstruction process and coordinated COV- ID-19 preparedness and response efforts of humanitarian community, and worked with the government and civil society in taking forward the Global Agenda 2030, for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and promotion of human rights. “Now more than ever, in the COVID-19 context, we need to remember that we cannot take the progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals and Millennium Development Goals for granted. We need real change in policies and economies to achieve a truly inclusive and equitable society to ensure that progress is not lost,” Julliand stressed.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on October 1 2020, of The Himalayan Times.