The Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers on Poverty Alleviation was inaugurated by Rt. Honourable Khil Raj Regmi, Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister for Defence, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Ministers and Senior Officials from all eight SAARC Member States, Ambassadors and Ministers, Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission and Senior Officials from the Government of Nepal.

The Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers on Poverty Alleviation was chaired by Hon. Vidyadhar Mallik, Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development; and Health and Population, Government of Nepal and the Fifth Meeting of SAARC Secretaries on Poverty Alleviation was chaired by Mr. Ran Bahadur Shrestha, Secretary, Ministry of Co-operatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal.

Some of the major outcomes of the Meeting are as follows:

·         extension of the first cycle of SAARC Development Goals from 2012 till 2015, which would coincide with the completion of MDGs in 2015;

·         replacing RPP, which was being published since 2003, with SDR (SAARC Development Report) from 2014 onwards to be published biennially;

·         publishing the Regional Poverty Profile (RPP) 2009 – 2010 titled “Food Security Challenges for the Poor and Social Inclusion”, shortly by the SAARC Secretariat;

·         proceeding further with the project of SAARC Handicraft Village (SHV): Handicraft Design, Development and Promotion Centres (HDDPCs); and

·         organizing a ‘Symposium on Best Practices for Poverty Alleviation and SAARC Development Goals: Evidences on Improvements in Policy, Programme Designs and Implementation’ at the SAARC Secretariat in the coming months.

Further, the Member States felt the need to provide SAARC inputs for the post-2015 developmental agenda.

The Fourth Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Poverty Alleviation preceded by the Sixth Meeting of SAARC Secretaries on Poverty Alleviation will be held in Bhutan.

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The SAARC Secretariat observed the Staff Day on 16 January 2013 to mark the day of its establishment.

 

This is the first time that the Secretariat observed the Day upon initiation by the incumbent Secretary-General of SAARC, H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem.

 

 Addressing the officials of the Secretariat on the Staff Day, the Secretary-General said, “The main purpose of this initiative is to

honour the staff for their hard workand dedication and to create a conducive atmosphere in the Secretariat where everyone works 

 harder than before with unwavering commitment and devotion.”

 

On the same occasion, in pursuance of the decision of the Forty-second Session of the Programming Committee, the Secretary-General also declared Mr. Balkrishna Pariyar, Messenger, the best performer for the year 2012.

 

To mark the Day, the Secretariat organized a table tennis tournament participated in by the Secretary-General, its Directors and officials. Mr. Kumar Shrestha and Mr. Ratan Silwal won the final match against Mr. Tareque Muhammad and Mr. Madhusudan Lamichhane.

 

Likewise, in commemoration of the Day, a Staff Picnic will be held in Dhulikhel on Sunday, 20 January 2013 during which the best performer of the Secretariat and the winning team of the tournament will be awarded.

 

Established in 1987 in Kathmandu, the Secretariat coordinates and monitors the implementation of SAARC activities, services the meetings of the Association and initiates proposals for regional cooperation, including elaboration of sub-regional and regional projects and identification of sources of their funding.

 

The Secretariat comprises a Secretary-General, eight Directors and regionally and locally recruited officials from Member States, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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The Forty-third Session of the Programming Committee concluded at the SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu on 5 January 2013. The meeting which was participated in by all the Member States was chaired by H. E. Mr. Hassan Shifau, Permanent Secretary of the Republic of Maldives.

Convening after a gap of over a year, the three-day session of the Committee had before it several important issues having a bearing on regional cooperation. Among other things, the Committee considered a number of Reports of the Governing Boards of SAARC Regional Centres and Expert Groups’ meetings that were held after the Seventeenth Summit. The Committee also finalized the Calendar of Activities for the year 2013.

H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, also addressed the opening session of the Programming Committee. Highlighting the significant achievements of SAARC since the last Summit, the Secretary-General said, “Since the Seventeenth Summit held in Addu City, Maldives, in November 2011, SAARC has shown clear signs of closer cooperation in many fronts. Trade under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) has already crossed the US$ 2 billion mark; the South Asian University has produced the first batch of graduates last August; the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme now covers 24 categories of persons who are entitled to visa free travel within the region.”

The Programming Committee comprises the Heads of SAARC Divisions of the Ministries of Foreign/External Affairs of the Member States of SAARC. It is a subsidiary body that reports to the Standing Committee of Foreign Secretaries.

In addition to the Directors from the SAARC Secretariat, the Directors of all the Regional Centres also attended the Committee’s Session that was held at the Secretariat from 3 to 5 January 2013.

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An interactive session with Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus titled “Microfinance and Poverty Reduction in South Asia” was held at the SAARC Secretariat on Saturday, 22 December 2010.

 

H.E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC welcomed Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and all distinguished delegates to the programme and said that as SAARC is observing its Poverty Alleviation Decade 2006 – 2015: SAARC looks forward to learning from the insights and experiences of Prof. Yunus on a subject which is extremely relevant in the context of the South Asia.

 

The interactive session was chaired by Hon. Dependra Bahdur Kshetry, Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission of Nepal. The discussion panelists were Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada - Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Mr. Binod Chaudhary - President Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Ms. Chandani Joshi, Former Director of UNIFEM South Asia and Mr. Raj Babu Shrestha, Executive Director – Poverty Alleviation Fund, Nepal.

 

Prof. Yunus delivering an inspiring speech, pointed out that the South Asian region being home to one fourth of world’s population, is also a hub of poverty in the world.  He emphasized the role of women and youth in poverty reduction processes and the need for redesigning economic, political, educational, financial and technological systems to reduce poverty until poverty is eradicated from the region. 

 

A number of distinguished invitees including diplomats, academics, media personnel and Officials of the SAARC Secretariat participated in the programme for which SAARC Secretariat was supported by CNI and SACEPS.

 

Mr. Dhan Bahadur Oli – Director (Information and Poverty Alleviation Division) of SAARC Secretariat proposed a vote of thanks and expressed SAARC’s gratitude to Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Chair, all panelists and distinguished invitees for making the event a success.

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