VOL.VII, NO.8
AUGUST 1996
SAARC Ministers adopt "Rawalpindi Resolution on Children of South Asia"WELFARE of the Children of South Asia has always been high in the SAARC Agenda. Successive summits have re-iterated the commitment of SAARC leaders to address issues relating to children. The Third SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children of South Asia was held in Rawalpindi on 20-22 August, 1996 to give further impetus to the efforts of member countries and to undertake a mid term review of the World Summit Declaration on Children.
The "Rawalpindi Resolution on Children of South Asia" adopted at the conclusion of the Conference takes into account the implementation of earlier decisions as well as mid-decade goals contained in the National Plans of Action drawn up within the overall framework of the World Summit Declaration on Children. It takes full cognizance of the pioneering work of SAARC focusing on the needs and initiation of a series of organized steps in the area of child development. It stresses on the urgency to achieve the goals for children and women through greater commitment of resources and through increased partnership between the Government and Communities.
CHILDREN: Prime Minister of Pakistan, SAARC Secretary-General and other participants during the children's performance at the Conference. The Resolution embodies a Vision Beyond The Year 2000 and the Ministers have recommended through the resolution that the years 2001-2010 be declared as the "SAARC Decade of the Rights of the Child". The Rawalpindi Resolution reflects SAARC's common resolve to build a secure future for the children of South Asia.Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto while inaugurating the three-day Conference highlighted the need for sustained support from all member states to fulfill the dream of nurturing children in a secure and happy environment.
Moving from promise to performance, South Asian countries must implement the commitments already made, in order to decrease the 50 million child deaths predicted over the next decade, attain economic solvency, end gender discrimination, and fight the spread of epidemics, she said. The Prime Minister identified issues such as gender equality, right of the girl child, rights of the children especially in difficult circumstances and education for the children as priority areas which require strengthening of regional efforts. As a future strategy for the region, she called for realistic examination of new emerging issues like child labour and trafficking of children with the objective to solving them.
The Conference must aim to eliminate the gap between the world our children will inherit, and the world they should inherit, she said.The Conference was formally opened by SAARC Secretary-General, Naeem U. Hasan, and chaired by the leader of the Pakistani delegation, Minister of Social Welfare and Special Education Dr. Sher Afgan Khan Niazi. SAARC Secretary-General in his statement highlighted the issues relating to the survival, protection and development of children in the region and stated that they were of utmost significance for the countries in the SAARC region, home to more than 410 million of the entire global population of children under the age of fifteen.
In this context, he emphasized the need to make rapid stride in ameliorating the quality of life of large segments of the population and rid the region of acute manifestations of depravation through first and foremost tackling the problems faced by children.The Leaders of delegations of all Member States presented their country statements which gave an overview of the progress made on the issue and concerns relating to children at national levels. The Conference also adopted reports by seven Working Groups each chaired by a Member Country on different themes namely, Basic Education (Bangladesh), Environment of the Child (Pakistan), Young Child Nutrition (Sri Lanka), Maternal Mortality and Women Health (Maldives), Girl Child (Bhutan), Child Health (Nepal) and Child Protection (India).
The Conference was attended by all SAARC member states and the SAARC Secretariat. UNICEF attended as a special invitee and closely collaborated in organising the Conference.Council for SAARC Fund for Regional Projects meetsTHE COUNCIL for SAARC Fund for Regional Projects (CSFRP) during its Eleventh Meeting held at Thimphu on August 6-7, 1996 reviewed progress of project studies and their current status of sponsorship.The regular readers of SAARC newsletter are aware that CSFRP is currently working on feasibility studies pertaining to thirteen regional projects in Member States.
Studies for ten projects have been completed whereas the remaining are under completion. The meeting which was opened by the Chairman, National Development Finance Corporation (NDFC) of Pakistan Khalid Iqbal was attended by all members of the Council. Director, Tahir Iqbal Butt represented the SAARC Secretariat at the meeting.SAARC Drumming and Dance FestivalONE of the priorities of SAARC has been to facilitate greater interaction and strengthen the affinities among the peoples of South Asia through cultural activities. Newsletter readers would recall that the first ever major SAARC cultural event, the "South Asian Festival", was held in October 1992 in India with popular participation from all member countries.The second cultural event, the "SAARC Drumming and Dance Festival" in Colombo on 14-18 August 1996, was well received and recognised as an event which showed the South Asian Dance and Drumming skills and traditions. Artists from all member states presented colourful dance and drumming series, indigenous to their individual countries.
Prime Minister, Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike inaugurated the festival at BMICH (Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall) in Colombo. The festival was sponsored under the SAARC-Japan Special Fund.Secretary-General's round of meetings
THE following visitors called on the SAARC Secretary-General during August 1996, at the SAARC Secretariat:
- Dr. Liam Fox, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
- Mr. M. Ali Shah, Resident Chief of Asian Development Bank, Kathmandu
- Mr. K.R. Venugopal, Chief, Poverty Alleviation of UNDP, Kathmandu
- Ms. Sarah Ewans, Director, British Council, Kathmandu
The Secretary-General also met Hon. Santa Bahadur Rai, Chairman of Public Service Commission of Nepal in Kathmandu.SAARC SecretaryGeneral calls on Bangladesh Prime MinisterSAARC Secretary-General during his meeting with the Bangladesh Prime Minister in DhakaSAARC SECRETARY-GENERAL, Naeem U. Hasan during his visit to Bangladesh from 12-14 August called on Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajed and briefed the Bangladesh Premier on the on-going programmes and activities of SAARC with special reference to the preparations underway for the next session of the Council of Ministers scheduled to be held in New Delhi in December this year.
Matters pertaining to the Ninth SAARC Summit to be hosted by Maldives in May next year were also discussed. Sheikh Hasina Wajed reiterated her Government's deep commitment to SAARC and expressed the hope that SAARC would play a more active role by focusing on economic and commercial relations among Member States. She also highlighted the need for promoting greater peopletopeople contacts within the region and in this context emphasized the importance of exchange of business and trade delegations to promote commercial activity in the region.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister also conveyed her country's full support for strengthening of the SAARC Secretariat and the role of the SAARC SecretaryGeneral. The SecretaryGeneral also called on Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Abdus Samad Azad and highlighted on a number of issues relating to SAARC. He also held talks with Foreign Secretary, Farooq Subhan during his visit to Dhaka. During the course of these talks, developments since the last Session of the Council of Ministers held in New Delhi in December 1995 were reviewed. Matters pertaining to the next Meeting of the Council of Ministers as well as other important SAARC meetings such as the SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children of South Asia, a high level Meeting to evolve a common SAARC position for the World Food Summit in Rome etc. also figured during the discussion.
The SecretaryGeneral outlined the increased ongoing contacts being established by the SAARC Secretariat with other regional and international organizations, the most recent of which was the conclusion of a SAARCEuropean Commission Agreement of Cooperation. While in Dhaka, the SecretaryGeneral also met the Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament, Humayun Rashed Choudhury and discussed parliamentary cooperation among SAARC countries including the holding of the next meeting of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians. It may be mentioned that SAARC Parliamentarians have already been exempted from requirements of visa for travel to Member Countries to encourage increased contact and cooperation between the public representatives in South Asia.Tourism Council of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry meets in Lahore.Participants during the Seminar of Tourism Council of SCCI in Lahore
THE TOURISM COUNCIL constituted by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) to contribute to the development of tourism sector, organised a Seminar in Lahore, Pakistan on August 4, 1996. The Council aims at promoting tourism in the SAARC region through increased flow of tourists within and outside the region. Promotion of the tourism sector is expected to lead to economic development of the region and strengthen regional cooperation at the private sector level. The one-day Seminar organised in association with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) reviewed the current status and existing policies of the industry.
It was inaugurated by Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, President, FPCCI. Riaz H. Quraishi, Chairman, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation and Hasan Raja Pasha, Additional Secretary and In-charge, Youth and Tourism Division of Pakistan participated in the Seminar as the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour, respectively. The working sessions were chaired by Padma Jyoti, Chairman of the Governing Board of SCCI Tourism Council. The delegations from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the Seminar. The SAARC Secretariat was represented by Ashok K. Attri, Director. Addressing the Seminar on behalf of the SAARC Secretary-General, Mr. Attri expressed satisfaction that SCCI has shown keen interest in promoting tourism in addition to trade in the SAARC region in keeping with the objectives laid down in its the Constitution.
Similar Seminars are planned by the Tourism Council of SCCI in Colombo, New Delhi and Kathmandu during 1996.Coming Events
- Training Workshop of NGOs Working in Drug Demand Reduction - 2-3 September 1996,
Islamabad.
- Second Seminar of Tourism Council of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry on
"Common Policy for Progress". Colombo, 2-4 September 1996.
- Fifteenth Meeting of the SAARC Audio Visual Exchange (SAVE) Committee - 3-5 September,
1996, Colombo
- Training Programme in Malariology (under SAARC-Japan Special Fund) - Sept. 2 to 28, 1996,
New Delhi
.- Sixth Meeting of Technical Committee on Tourism Colombo, 5-6 September 1996.
- Second Meeting of Inter-Governmental Group on Trade Liberalisation to continue/conclude the
Second Round of Trade Negotiations under SAPTA, Islamabad, 7-8 September 1996.
- SAARC Workshop of Experts on Population and Training - 16 September 1996, Dhaka.
- SAARC Expert Group Meeting on Observer Status - September 17-18, 1996, Colombo.
- Seminar on the Role of Mass Media in Drug Abuse Prevention - 21-22 September 1996,
Dhaka.
- SAARC Workshop on Women in Sustainable Development - September 23-24, 1996,
Islamabad (under SAARC-Japan Special Fund).
- SAARC Consultative Meeting on TB & AIDS - 23-25 September 1996, Kathmandu
- Seminar on Air Transport - 24-25 September 1996, Kathmandu
- SAARC Workshop on Essential New Born Care (under SAARC-Japan Special Fund) -
September 25-27, 1996, Madras.
- SAARC Seminar/Workshop on Commercialization of R & D Results - September 29-30, 1996,
Dhaka.
- Seminar cum field visit on Production Credit for Rural Women, - 30 Sept - 2 Oct. 1996,
Kathmandu.
- Attachment Training Programme for the Information Professionals from SAARC Member States
at INSDOC - September - December 1996, New Delhi.
SAARC Newsletter is published monthly, which reports on the activities of the Association. Its contents may be reproduced without permission, although an acknowledgment would be appreciated.
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