The Fourteenth meeting of the Board of the Nepal Peace Trust Fund (NPTF), chaired by Hon. Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Mr. Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was held today. Co-chair Hon. Minister for Finance, Mr. Barsha Man Pun, representatives of different political parties, Vice Chair to the National Planning Commission, Secretaries of different Ministries, Donor Chair of the NPTF and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal also attended the meeting. The meeting, among others, reviewed the progress made by the NPTF and UN Peace Fund for Nepal (UNPFN).
The meeting approved two new projects worth 3,537.57 million Nepali Rupees. The approved projects include Election Commission's project on "Support to Election Project" with a budget of NPR 3,420.57 million and Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister's project on "Strengthening the Capacity and Mechanisms of Relevant State Institutions to Implement Human Rights Plans and Policies in Nepal" with a budget of NPR 117 million. As a supplement to the "Support to Election Project" the Board also delegated authority to the Technical Committee of the NPTF to approve project related to facilitation and expediting of citizenship certificate distribution by the District Administration Offices. A project proposal is expected to be submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs soon, which shall be reviewed by the sectoral cluster of the NPTF prior to approval by the Technical Committee.
Hon. Minister, Mr. Rayamajhi informed that the NPTF is completing its sixth year next month and its term has been further extended for three more years i.e. until January 2016. Highlighting on the crucial role that NPTF had played in the areas of cantonment management and rehabilitation of Maoist Army Combatants and also in the elections to the earlier Constituent Assembly in 2008, Hon. Minister Mr. Rayamajhi stated that the upcoming elections in April/May 2013 remains as the Government's high priority and NPTF should contribute to these purposes. Similarly, the Government's role in facilitating Human Rights issues are being supported through the second project. Hon. Minister Rayamajhi also welcomed USAID as the new partner to the NPTF along with seven existing donors namely Denmark, European Union, Finland, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Hon. Finance Minister, Mr. Pun recalled the noteworthy contributions made by the NPTF financed projects in contributing the ongoing peace process. He also mentioned that NPTF will not have shortage of Government funds to finance its prioritized projects in the pipeline.
Donor Group chair and the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal, HE Thomas Gass expressed satisfaction on the performance of NPTF so far. He stated that the development partners gave their support to both projects which were discussed in detail in technical meetings including Government of Nepal, Civil Society Organizations and donors. H.E. Mr. Gass expressed concern regarding human rights situation and also emphasized that it is significantly important that all outcomes of the project on human rights are consistent with international human rights standard and humanitarian law. Emphasizing his satisfaction over the performance of NPTF, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal Mr. Robert Piper highlighted the complimentarity and synergy between the NPTF and the UNPFN mechanisms.
Peace Fund Secretariat
19 Dec 2012