UN Peace and Disarmament centre in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Oct 21: UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament for Asia and Pacific is to be shifted to Kathmandu from UN headquarters in New York, media reports said here today.

"I am very pleased that the long-awaited transfer to Kathmandu of the Center under the UN Department of Disarmament Affairs (DDA) is about to happen," The Kathmandu Post quoted Matthew Kahane, UN Resident and Coordinator in Nepal as saying.

"The budgetary and administrative issues are being finalized in a practical fashion, to allow the UN and the Government of Nepal to review and, I hope, agree on a Memorandum of Understanding." A new resolution is being developed for passage by the General Assembly, stating that the Center should be relocated to Kathmandu without any further delay, Madhu Raman Acharya, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the UN said.

"The process has become easier because of democratic political change. It's also because of improved security situation. It will happen soon,'' he said.

UNI