H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that opened at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre in Colombo today.

It is the first time in the history of SAARC that the Secretary-General of SAARC is invited to attend the CHOGM.

The Summit was preceded by preparatory meetings of Foreign Ministers from 13 to 14 November 2013 at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre.  Five Member States of SAARC, namely Bangladesh, India, The Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are Members of Commonwealth.

The Summit concludes on 18 November 2013.

H. E. Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) called on Mr. Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary General UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific at UN Office in New York today.

During the meeting, the Secretary –General appraised the Assistant Secretary General about SAARC – UNDP Cooperation. He also briefed the Assistant Secretary General about the long standing cooperation between SAARC and UNDP.

The discussion between SAARC Secretary General and UN Assistant Secretary General also focused on SAARC- UNDP collaboration particularly in SAARC Development Goals and the area of Poverty Alleviation. Further, the discussion was also held in the subject matter of SAARC- UNDP cooperation in post 2015 development framework.

SAARC Foreign Ministers met informally in New York on 25 September 2014 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Dr. Mariyam Shakeela, Minister of Environment and Energy and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives chaired the informal meeting organized by the Permanent Mission of Maldives in New York. Nepal holds the Chair of SAARC following its Seventeenth Summit in November 2014.

Opening the meeting, the Chairperson highlighted the important initiatives taken by Nepal in the implementation of the decisions of the eighteenth Summit.

Addressing the meeting, the Secretary-General briefed on current status of implementation of important decisions at the Thirty-fifth Session of the Council of Ministers. Further, he focused on progress in key areas of cooperation among the SAARC Member States since Thirty-fifth Session of Council of Ministers in Maldives, 20 February 2014. He also appraised the recommendations made in the Forty –sixth Meeting of the Programming Committee in Kathmandu and also regarding selective closure/merger of SAARC Regional Centres and Foty-seventh Sessions of the Programming Committee in Kathmandu regarding Engagement with observers.

Following the presentation by the Secretary-General, the Ministers deliberated upon several measures on current status of progress in different areas of regional cooperation in SAARC (since Thirty –fifth Session of the Council of Ministers, expeditious implementation of decisions taken by the SAARC Charter Bodies, including the SAARC Ministerial Meetings and The Eighteenth SAARC Summit and Thirty –sixth Session of the Council of Ministers- Brief by the host country about preparations.

The closing remarks were made by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers.

H. E. Mr. Ahmed Saleem, Secretary-General of SAARC, addressed the Second High-level Meeting for South-South Cooperation on Child Rights in New Delhi on 25 October 2013.

Organized by the Ministry of Women & Child Development of the Government of India, the Meeting was inaugurated on 23 October 2013. 

In his presentation at Session 5of the meeting devoted to the theme, Regional Perspectives and Partnerships, the Secretary-General highlighted the initiatives taken by SAARC in the area of child rights. Referring to the SAARC Social Charter, he stated, “The SAARC Social Charter, signed in January 2004, addresses the issue of promotion of the Rights and well-being of the Child, stating that the child should be entitled to grow and develop in health with due protection. The Charter advocates special services to be provided for the child and its mother.  The Charter stresses to undertake specific steps to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Most importantly, the Charter highlights the need for education, literacy, and skill development amongst adolescents and youth, especially of girls, and elimination of child or early marriage in the region. The Charter extends its provisions to the children in conflict with law, street, orphaned, displaced, abandoned and children affected by armed conflict and affected by drug abuse as well.”

The Secretary-General further said, “The SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia and the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution are other important regional instruments. These instruments complement to the participatory rights of the child as a vital prerequisite for realization of human rights and for achievement of Millennium Development Goals and SAARC Development Goals.”

Mr. Ibrahim Zuhuree, Director, Social Affairs Division, SAARC Secretariat also attended the High-level Meeting in New Delhi.