Leading a delegation to the World Humanitarian Summit convened by the secretary general of the United Nations, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa is leaving for Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday.

Thapa will be accompanied by Sushil Gyewali, chief executive officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and senior officials from the home and foreign ministries. Permanent representatives of Nepal to the UN in New York and Geneva will also join the delegation, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The first-ever humanitarian summit aims to initiate a set of concrete actions for humanitarian support in times of need, it was stated. Participants at the summit would also include representatives from business, aid organisations, civil society and affected communities.

After completing his engagements in Turkey, Thapa will pay an official visit to Israel from May 24 to 26. He is scheduled to meet with the Israeli prime minister.

Thapa will lead the Nepali delegation to the comprehensive high-level mid-term review of the Istanbul Programme of Action being held in Antalya of Turkey from May 27 to 29. The IPOA is the programme of action for the Least Developed Countries for 2011-20 adopted by the LDC conference in 2011.