Nepal to chair Group of Asia-Pacific States

Kathmandu, Aug. 25:

The Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York is set to assume the chairmanship of the Group of the Asia- Pacific States in New York for the month of September 2017.

According to a press statement issued by the Mission, such arrangement was announced at the Group's monthly meeting in New York on Friday.

“Group’s chair for August, Ambassador Marlene Moses, Permanent Representative of Nauru, extended special thanks to the delegation of Nepal for accepting the responsibility despite September being a hectic month in New York and assured of her delegation's full cooperation,” reads the statement.

On behalf of the group, she also extended heartfelt condolences on the death and suffering caused by recent floods and landslides in Nepal.

Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Durga Prasad Bhattarai, welcomed the opportunity as an honour for his delegation to serve the group as its chair.

He also expressed gratitude for the condolences expressed by the chair and other friends of Nepal on the deaths and damage Nepal sustained due to Monsoon induced floods and landslides in recent weeks.

This is the first time that Nepal will be chairing the Group since September 2012.

All elected positions in the UN System are distributed among Member States on the basis of their respective geographical regions.

For that purpose, countries are currently arranged under five regional groups, of which Asia-Pacific is the largest comprising 55 states.

The other groups are Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Western European and other countries.