Kathmandu, August 8 :

The United Nations is set to open its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Kathmandu on August 18.

RCPD’s relocation to Kathmandu is in accordance with the Host Country Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding signed by the United Nations and the Government of Nepal on July 20, 2007, the United Nations said in a statement today. “It is a development unanimously welcomed by the General Assembly in its 62nd session.”

“RCPD is a useful instrument for fostering a climate of cooperation for peace and disarmament in this vast region,” the statement added.

RCPD’s assistance and capacity-building packages comprise the convening of and substantive support to high-level regional conferences, round-tables of experts, technical workshops as well as training for government officials, parliamentarians and civil society, and also any other specific disarmament related activities, it said.