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South Asia's Unheralded Stories of 2010
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
San Diego, CA
Source: State.gov
September 30, 2010: I am delighted to be here at the San Diego World Affairs Council today to discuss with you U.S. policy in South Asia and to highlight some of the lesser-known success stories coming out of South Asia.
Assistant Secretary Blake has said the following on Nepal: Let me turn now to Nepal, another country that has recently seen the end of a long conflict. Nepal’s decade-long conflict between the Maoists and the Government caused the deaths of more than 13,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. The conflict ended in 2006 with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government and the Maoist insurgents.
Since 2006, progress on peace process has proceeded in fits and starts. After several postponements – postponements that foreshadowed the delays we have seen at every step of the peace process since – elections were held in April 2008. Those elections resulted in the ending of Nepal’s more than two-century- old monarchy and the creation of a Constituent Assembly tasked with the drafting of a new constitution. From that promising beginning, however, relatively limited progress has been made.
The two most difficult issues that were agreed in principle – but not in detail – under the 2006 Peace Agreement are the integration of the former Maoist combatants into Nepal’s security forces and the devolution of power to the local level. The inability of the parties to resolve these issues translated into a failure to meet the May 28, 2010 deadline to complete the constitution. Instead, the Nepal’s political Parties agreed to a one-year extension of the deadline.
Since June, Nepal’s three main Parties have fruitlessly vied to lead the next government, although we remain hopeful that a new government will be formed soon. In recent days, we have seen progress on the peace process, including a key agreement between the Government and the Maoists to move ahead on the long-stalled integration and rehabilitation of former Maoist combatants. We are encouraged by this positive step and hope the Parties will take advantage of this opportunity to close the camps housing the former Maoist combatants once and for all.
Despite the difficulties among the parties and the slow pace of implementation of the peace process, there has not been a return to violence. The former Maoist combatants are now a political party who repeatedly state their commitment to the political process. However you cut it, sorting out disputes in the political arena rather than on the battlefield is progress.
For all its current political turmoil, Nepal has in many ways been a remarkable global citizen. For example, Nepal has hosted over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees for almost two decades. Following 15 rounds of unsuccessful negotiations between Nepal and Bhutan over the repatriation of the refugees, the U.S. and seven other countries have offered resettlement to interested and qualified refugees. To date, more than 35,000 have been resettled, with 30,000 resettled in the United States. Nepal has also offered safe haven to a sizable population of Tibetan refugees and facilitated the safe passage of new Tibetan arrivals to India.
Nepali peacekeepers have long helped make the world safer through their active involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, ranking sixth in the world in troop contributions despite a population of fewer than 30 million people. Also, despite limited resources with which to address a very serious problem, Nepal’s government has devoted significant funds and developed meaningful programs to combat human trafficking in the country.
Another area in which Nepal has excelled is in the remarkable growth in the freedom and vitality of its press. Over the past two decades, Nepal’s media has blossomed both in numbers and vibrancy. There are today literally hundreds of newspapers and magazines published in Nepali, English and several local languages as well as nearly 200 radio and some two-dozen television stations. As a key member of Nepal’s evolving civil society the free media increasingly helps shape public debate and strengthens democratic institutions.
Despite overwhelming odds and continued political instability, Nepal has made strong strides on the development front, as well. In fact, Nepal is one of only a few countries that won international praise for its progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals in health. Nepal brought down the number of pregnancy related deaths from 538 per 100,000 in 1996 to 281 per 100,000 in 2006, and for reducing child mortality from 118 per 1000 to 61 per 1000. All of these trends augur well for a brighter future in Nepal, particularly if its leaders can set aside their differences, and complete the peace process.
ENDS
