Chapter 12

Summary

As negotiations with a range of partners commenced, the Election Commission of Nepal also began to engage with the United Nations.

The UN's involvement in Nepal's peace process began when Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Nepal in March 2001, two months before the palace massacre. The following year, in August 2002, in his annual report to the UN General Assembly Annan offered his good offices. This offer came after political leaders, including the Maoists, indicated their preference for engagement with the UN—due to its global composition.

Padma Ratna Tuladhar, one of the facilitators in the peace talks between the Maoists and the government in 2001 and 2003, recalls some interesting details about the UN's engagement in Nepal. In an interview, Tuladhar said:

On the occasion of the UN Day celebrations, the UN Resident Coordinator, Henning Karcher, said the UN could make its offices available to assist in solving the conflict—provided that both sides made a request to this effect. It was actually Karcher's remark on UN day that encouraged most Nepalese actors to take UN involvement seriously.

The day after Karcher's remarks, Prachanda called me to learn more about how the UN wanted to be involved in Nepal. Daman Nath Dhungana and I felt we had to secure international expertise during the previous peace talks in 2001. So I went to meet Henning Karcher to discuss possible UN involvement in the peace process, and a series of informal talks commenced.