UNMIN: Bang to a whimper

In 2007, the euphoria over having achieved something substantial was palpable in Nepal, even though the differences between the major political parties had already begun to surface. After all, the decade-long Maoist-led insurgency had come to a formal end with the people's movement. The two-and-a-half-century-old monarchy had been effectively abolished. And the UN political mission in Nepal, UNMIN, was about to begin a one-year term on 23 January, vested with supporting the nascent peace process. The 'New Nepal' was about to unfold. Four years later, the UN mission has been forced to leave after a tenure that had some notable successes, a few controversies and a big goof-up, leaving some important peace-related tasks still pending. It was an exit that neither the UN bigwigs in New York and UNMIN officials nor the Nepalis had anticipated.

There was hardly any opposition to the UN mission being set up except some perceived resistance from India. The man named to head the mission, Ian Martin, had earned goodwill and respect as Nepal chief of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Thereafter, the UN Security Council established UNMIN with a fourfold mandate to: a) monitor the management of arms and armed personnel of the Nepal Army and the Maoist army, in line with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of November 2006; b) assist the parties through a Joint Monitoring Coordinating Committee (JMCC) in implementing this agreement; c) assist in the monitoring of ceasefire arrangements; and d) provide technical assistance to the Election Commission for the election of a Constituent Assembly, which eventually took place in April 2008.