With the objective of highlighting that all persons who have been displaced by the conflict should be able to voluntarily return home safely, in a dignified and sustainable way, the UN agencies are set to launch a three-week media campaign.
Stating that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has offered "an opportunity to resolve this hidden legacy of the conflict," the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees) and OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) have joined hands in this campaign.
The campaign – which Nepali people will be able to watch on television and listen on radio – will appeal for ensuring conditions on the ground that ensure the conditions exist for displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes.
"We want to underscore two points in our campaign – that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) come from all kinds of social and political background and all of the IDPs have the right to return voluntarily to their places," said Kieran Dwyer, an official at the OHCHR-Nepal.
According to various estimates, there are between 200,000 to 250,000 IDPs in Nepal. "We don't know how many of them have returned in the past eight months of ceasefire. In some districts, around 90 percent of them have returned while in others the figure is very low. Many of them continue to face threats of persecution and have lost all their moveable properties, which have stopped them from returning," said Bjorn Pettersson, Internal Displacement Advisor at the OHCHR-Nepal.
Petterson said that the government should introduce concrete operational plan including packages of material assistance to help the IDPs.
Likewise, Michele Manca di Nissa, official of the UNHCR, said that while it is the primary responsibility of the state to take care of IDPs, the UN was willing to assist the state in this. Hanne Melfald of OCHA said many of the IDPs have blended very well with the community leading to the difficulty in ascertaining their actual number.
The campaign – which Nepali people will be able to watch on television and listen on radio – will appeal for ensuring conditions on the ground that ensure the conditions exist for displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes.
"We want to underscore two points in our campaign – that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) come from all kinds of social and political background and all of the IDPs have the right to return voluntarily to their places," said Kieran Dwyer, an official at the OHCHR-Nepal.
According to various estimates, there are between 200,000 to 250,000 IDPs in Nepal. "We don't know how many of them have returned in the past eight months of ceasefire. In some districts, around 90 percent of them have returned while in others the figure is very low. Many of them continue to face threats of persecution and have lost all their moveable properties, which have stopped them from returning," said Bjorn Pettersson, Internal Displacement Advisor at the OHCHR-Nepal.
Petterson said that the government should introduce concrete operational plan including packages of material assistance to help the IDPs.
Likewise, Michele Manca di Nissa, official of the UNHCR, said that while it is the primary responsibility of the state to take care of IDPs, the UN was willing to assist the state in this. Hanne Melfald of OCHA said many of the IDPs have blended very well with the community leading to the difficulty in ascertaining their actual number.
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