what are the activities that are carry out by saarc secretary general??? Any 6 points
Answers
Explanation:
The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created in 1985 as an expression of the region's collective decision to evolve a regional cooperative framework. Presently, there are eight member countries in SAARC namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also has nine Observers, namely China, EU, Iran, Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar and USA.
India was the Chair of SAARC in 2007 and the year was the most productive year that SAARC had ever known. Each of Hon'ble Prime Minister's announcements at the 14th Summit in Delhi has been implemented. The operationalization of the SAARC Food Bank; the establishment of the SAARC Development Fund; setting up of the South Asian University; the SAARC Cultural Festival; the launching of negotiations to bring services into SAFTA; signing of the Convention of Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and our unilateral grant of zero duty access to SAARC LDCs from January 1, 2008 are significant steps to regional integration. SAARC's geographic contours also changed with the formal induction of Afghanistan in to SAARC as the eighth member.
The momentum generated by 14th Summit held in New Delhi coupled with India's commitment to discharge its responsibilities in an asymmetric and non-reciprocal manner, was carried over to the 15th SAARC Summit, held in Colombo (2-3 August 2008) and the 16th SAARC Summit held for the first time in Thimphu (28-29 April 2010).
The most visible manifestation of this new dynamism in SAARC has been the early operationalization of the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and the inauguration of its permanent premises in Bhutan during the Sixteenth SAARC Summit in April 2010. India has transferred its full commitment of US $ 189.9 ($ 89.9 million as assessed contribution and $ 100 million as grant for the social window) to the SDF. Other Member States are also expected to remit their contributions to the SDF shortly. Two regional projects - on women's empowerment and maternal and child health care - under SDF are currently being implemented with technical assistance from India.
Cooperation in the field of higher education is set to touch a new horizon with the establishment of the South Asian University (SAU) at New Delhi in the near future. India will bear a major part of the cost of establishing the University, including 100% of the capital cost. The University is expected to be fully established by 2015. The Sixteenth SAARC Summit (Thimphu, April 2010) appreciated the progress made towards establishing the University and the announcement of the CEO of the SAU Project Office to initialize the first academic session of the University with effect from August 2010.
In a bid to preserve the rich textile and handicraft traditions of the South Asian region, Prime Minister, at the Thirteenth SAARC Summit (Dhaka, November 2005), proposed the establishment of a SAARC Museum of Textiles and Handicrafts in New Delhi. The Museum would be an Intergovernmental Body on the lines of the other SAARC Regional Centres and will be housed in Delhi Haat, Pitampura. Premises for the Museum have been acquired in January 2010.
Taking forward the theme of regional connectivity, the Second Meeting of SAARC Transport Ministers held in Colombo (24-25 July 2009) directed that a Special Meeting of the Expert Group be convened to negotiate two draft Regional Agreements on Motor Vehicles and Railways in a time bound manner. The Sixteenth SAARC Summit in Thimphu, reiterating the centrality of connectivity to further deepen and consolidate regional integration, endorsed the recommendation to declare 2010-20 as the "Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC" and agreed on the need to
Explanation:
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Established
1985
Regime Overview
The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was first raised in November 1980. After consultations, the foreign secretaries of the seven founding countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—met for the first time in Colombo in April 1981. This was followed a few months later by a meeting of the Committee of the Whole, which identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. The foreign ministers, at their first meeting in New Delhi in August 1983, adopted the Declaration on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and formally launched the Integrated Program of Action (IPA) in the five agreed areas of cooperation: agriculture; rural development; telecommunications; meteorology; and health and population activities. Later, transport; postal services; scientific and technological cooperation; and sports, arts, and culture were added to the IPA. Afghanistan became the newest member of SAARC at the 13th annual summit in 2005. China and Japan were granted observer status at the same.
Purposes
The SAARC seeks to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia, strengthen collective self-reliance, promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in various fields, and cooperate with international and regional organizations
Meetings of Heads of State or Government