The Fifth Meeting of the SAARC Technical Committee on Women, Youth and Children was held in Kabul from 16-17 July 2011. The Meeting was attended by all the SAARC Member States. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Prof. Sayeda Mojgan Mostafavi, Technical and Policy Deputy Minister of Ministry of Women’s Affairs in her capacity as Leader of the Delegation of Afghanistan and current Chair of the Technical Committee.

The Meeting while following up on its previous decisions, made recommendations for the expeditious implementation of the project proposal which were identified during the previous sessions of the Meeting. To this end, the Meeting agreed to identify Focal Points in each Member State.

To further enhance SAARC’s cooperation with UN Women under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Meeting endorsed SAARC Gender Equality and Empowerment Programme.

The Meeting finalized the In-depth Assessment Report of the implementation of the SAARC Decade of the Rights of Child (2001-2010) and recommended the Secretariat to launch the Assessment Report during the Seventeenth SAARC Summit (Maldives, November 2011).

The Meeting also recommended course of action for revival of SAARC Youth Volunteers’ Programme and for developing SAARC Youth Action Plan