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The UN Security Council has decided to extend its mission in Nepal by six months until January next year. The decision was taken through a vote by the Security Council members.
The UN mission in Nepal is extended to Jan 23, 2010.
"The peace process has stagnated to a certain degree," the UN secretary-general's advisor on Nepal, Karin Landgren, told reporters. "It is the Security Council's hope that the government will take the peace process forward."
Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had recommended the consent of the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) be extended after Nepal's political leaders said its presence is required till the rehabilitation issue of Maoist soldiers is resolved.
After the abolition of monarchy and the end of civil war, Nepal has been struggling to fight anarchy, insecurity and impunity. The UN has recently warned of an "alarming" rise in kidnappings for ransom in Nepal, saying that the absence of security enforcement was encouraging a culture of impunity.
Also of "serious concern", said Landgren, is the country's economy, which has been hit by the global financial crisis.
In the past several months, the number of remittances, which constitute a significant portion of Nepal's economy, has plummeted as there were fewer people travelling abroad for work.
Landgren said the Nepalese government was making slow but encouraging signs of progress in the rehabilitation of around 4,000 Maoist soldiers.
The UN has identified around 3,000 child soldiers in Nepal below the age of 18, he added.
Around 24,000 former fighters are still living in camps monitored by the UNMIN, which has been in the country since 2007.
