SAARC information Centre, Kathmandu, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Mass Communications, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, organized a ‘Media Workshop on SAARC’ in New Delhi on 6-7 June 2011. 

1.    The workshop took note of various initiatives taken by the SAARC for the last 25 years particularly SAARC Social Charter, Charter of Democracy, SAFTA, Food Bank, South Asian University, SAARC Development Fund. These initiatives are significant for socio-economic development of the region.

2.    The workshop noted that the SAARC Secretariat through the SAARC Information Centre (SIC) is making concerted efforts to take the activities and achievements of SAARC to the wider audience within and outside region. For this the SIC is working towards creating a strong network of communication both inside the SAARC region and beyond.

3.    The two - day workshop held at Indian Institute of Mass Communication in New Delhi (06-07 June 2011) was attended by delegates from Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Director (IPA), SAARC Secretariat also attended.

4.    After extensive deliberations on the SAARC Plan of Action on Information and Media (1998), the workshop made the following unanimous recommendations:

i)SIC should function as Regional Media hub for the dissemination of information about SAARC initiatives, programmes and activities.

ii)    SIC should develop linkages with existing government information systems in the member countries like Press Information Bureau (PIB), Press Information Department (PID).

iii)    SIC should hold a meeting of Heads of leading News Agencies of member countries to forge closer cooperation for better flow of information regarding SAARC activities.

iv)    SIC should organize a meeting of Media Heads and Editors of the region before every SAARC Summit.

v)    Revive and enlarge SAARC Audio Visual Exchange (SAVE).

vi)    SIC should encourage joint production of documentaries on common issues of the region.

vii)    SIC should organize every year a SAARC Film Festival on a rotation basis in member countries in coordination with their respective film festival authorities.

viii)    SIC should organize orientation workshops for media persons on regular basis in cooperation with training institutes of the member countries.

ix)    SIC should organize a workshop of representatives of various media training institutions of the region to develop a SAARC orientation module to be included in the syllabi of media training institutes in the member countries.

x)    SIC should organize a meeting of experts from the region to evolve SAARC guidelines on transnational satellite broadcasting.

xi)    The increasing role of SIC in taking SAARC to masses requires more resources from the member states.

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The 5th review meeting of the SAARC Gender Info Base, a joint initiative between the SAARC and UN WOMEN, was held at SAARC Secretariat on the 7th and 8th of June, 2011. The meeting was inaugurated by the Director of Social Affairs Mr. Ibrahim Zuhuree and chaired by the Maldivian Deputy Minister of Health, Ms. Fathmath Afiya.

During the meeting, the SAARC Gender Equality and Empowerment Programme was proposed with SGIB as the central component. The main objective of the proposal is to reprogram the approach in order to address the realization of the other objectives which are in line with the overall MoU of SAARC & UN Women. While SGIB has 5 major objectives, the current project approach is limited by the predisposition to just one objective that deals with the development of a regional resource database by collecting, processing and analyzing gender related information in the region. After comprehensive deliberations on the proposal, the meeting recommended that SAARC Secretariat may submit a detailed proposal to the Technical Committee on Women, Youth and Children for its consideration. Furthermore, the Meeting also discussed the importance of uploading and updating data on the website as frequently as possible so that it could become a major source of information on women empowerment in the region and a hub for new regional initiatives, research and projects.

The meeting was attended by the country focal points from the Member States and senior officials from UN WOMEN.

The Meeting welcomed the offer of Sri Lanka to host the Sixth Review Meeting of SAARC Gender Info Base in 2012. The Meeting also welcomed the offer of Maldives to host the Fourth Meeting of the Focal Points during December 2011.

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The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, His Excellency Mr.Upendra Yadav and the Secretary General of SAARC, Her Excellency Uz.Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed today signed two Headquarters Agreement between the Government of Nepal and the SAARC Secretariat for the SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre and the SAARC Information Centre.  The signing ceremony was attended by the Foreign Secretary and other senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal.  During the signing ceremony Directors of both the Regional Centres and the concerned Directors from the SAARC Secretariat were also present.

The Heads of State or Government during Male Summit held in November 1990 decided to establish the SAARC Tuberculosis Centre and was renamed as SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre in November 2007.  The SAARC Information Centre was established in 2005.  The Agreements will provide an overall framework for the smooth functioning and operation of the Centres as the “Centres of Excellence” in their field of activities and for regulating the relations between the Centres and the Government of Nepal.

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His Excellency Hon. Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan, in his capacity as SAARC Chair, is visiting Nepal from April 14 to 16, 2011.  On arrival at Tribhvan International Airport on 14th April, Prime Minister Thinley will be received by the Prime Minister of Nepal Rt. Hon’ble Jhala Nath Khanal, apart from Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, SAARC Ambassadors and Officer in charge of the SAARC Secretariat.

During his visit to Nepal, Prime Minister Thinley is scheduled to meet the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries of Nepal.  He is expected to discuss various issues relating to cooperation under SAARC. 

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