Statement by Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Mr. Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’
at the High-level Debate on ‘Urban Safety, Security and Good Governance: Making Crime Prevention a Priority for All’
New York, 22 April 2021
Time Limit: 3 minutes
Mr. President,
Excellencies, and
Distinguished Delegates
I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this High-level debate on urban safety, security, and good governance.
Urbanization entails not only a promise of prosperity but also a peril of security challenges. It encompasses not only economic growth and innovation but also a raft of governance complexity and risk of multiple crimes, including corruption, money laundering, and smuggling, among others. Additionally, the current pandemic has added woes to the pre-existing worries of our cities.
In this context, and in light of the decade of delivery of the SDGs, including our national aspiration to graduate from the LDC category, ensuring safety, security, good governance, and accelerated economic growth has been more critical now than ever before.
Mr. President,
In line with our constitutional aspirations, the establishment of a civilized, inclusive, and prosperous, society in a safe and secured environment is a topmost priority of the Government.
The 15th Development Plan prioritizes crime prevention and sustainable urban development thereby enhancing the coordination and cooperation among the three levels of government in the new federal context.
Our National Urban Development Strategy 2017 aims at building cities with the characteristic of sustainability, inclusivity, resilience that would enable environment-friendly urban planning.
Our cities are governed by the elected officials. The Government is effortful to making our cities safe, inclusive, and resilient by addressing the multifarious risks of violence, crime, insecurity, and social malpractices while identifying city-specific security threats and enhancing the institutional capacities of our cities.
The involvement of women, youth, and local communities in both urban development and crime prevention has been a focus of our policies and programmes.
Mr. President,
Nepal welcomes the UNODC’s Urban Safety Governance Initiative that puts people and the local communities at the centre of crime prevention.
We believe that urban safety, security and good governance will only be achieved through reducing inequality, inclusion and participation of communities and stakeholders.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that the efforts to making our cities safe and resilient would need strong institutions with greater accountability in a holistic manner. This calls for an enhanced level of international cooperation and partnership, including the transfer of technology. Nepal remains committed to working together with the international community to ensure urban safety, security and good governance.
I thank you.