Kathmandu, Dec 4: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka left for Ghana last night to attend the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference. The conference the United Nations has been organizing every year is taking place in Accra, the capital of African country Ghana, on December 5-6. On behalf of Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Khadka is leading the Nepali delegation in the conference. With missions facing greater challenges than ever, the Ministerial will focus on protection of civilians, strategic communications (including addressing mis and disinformation and hate speech), safety and security, the mental health of peacekeepers, and women in peacekeeping.
On behalf of the member nations contributing to the international peacekeeping, commitments of nine different sectors that can support international peacekeeping as well as problems and challenges and their solutions will be presented and discussed on the occasion. DPM Khadka is scheduled to address the conference on behalf of Nepal while other members of delegation will participate in several sessions. On the sidelines of the conference, UN Deputy Secretary-General Atul Khare and Jean Pierre Lacroix will pay courtesy call on DPM Khadka.
Likewise, DPN Khadka is set to meet and discuss with the Ministers for Defense and Security of other countries on bilateral issues. It is anticipated that Nepal’s contributions to international peacekeeping will be discussed and highlighted which will subsequently elevate the image of the country. Placing high importance to the participation of the high-level delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister, the conference has designed a programme to include Khadka as a speaker on behalf of member nations, Khadka’s secretariat informed.
