Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Civil society important for development: FM Dr. Rana

 Kathmandu, Sept. 3

Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba said that the role of civil society will be important in the wider development of Nepal.

Addressing Nepal Civil Society Conference for the Summit of the Future held in Lalitpur on Tuesday, she said that civil society has an important role in the transformation of society through socio-economic development.

According to her, Nepal has given importance to the 'Summit of the Future' which is going to be held with the upcoming General Assembly of the United Nations and preparations are being made for the participation of the Prime Minister of Nepal in that summit.

Informing that Nepal is preparing to move up from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status by the year 2026, and for this Nepal has made a Smooth Transition Strategy (STS), FM Dr. Rana said that the role of civil society was also important to make this LDC graduation plan of Nepal irreversible and sustainable.

For Nepal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030, she said that a report last month showed that 41 per cent of Nepal's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be met, everyone's joint efforts should continue for this.

Likewise, Minister Dr. Rana stated that the issue of reducing the risk of climate change is now an important issue for Nepal. "Since the problem of climate change has started to cause natural disasters in Nepal and the recent incident of glacial lake bursting in Solukhumbu is also related to this, Nepal should learn from these accidents in the future and take measures to reduce its risk," she said.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of the Association of INGOs in Nepal (AIN), Dr. SP Kalaune said that Nepal has a lot to achieve in the next six years in terms of SDGs and LDC graduation.

"Things are not going to transform overnight, we need to make better plans for economic and social development," he said.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNESCO Representative to Nepal, Michael Croft, emphasised the greater role of civil society in socio-economic development.

Likewise, Jose’ Luis Vinuesa-Santamaria,  Head of Cooperation of the European Union in Nepal, said that the partnership has grown over the years between the EU and Nepal. "We take pride in Nepal's fight for democracy and civil society role in it," he said.

The conference was jointly organised by the NGO Federation of Nepal, AIN and the United Nations. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 September 2024.        


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