Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan. 07 (BSS)- The two-day SAARC ministerial level Meeting on poverty alleviation begins February 18 in the Maldives Capital Male.

The ministerial meeting will be preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on the first day of the two-day event, said an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here today.

The last ministerial SAARC poverty alleviation meeting was held in Colombo in August, 2006.

The SAARC Summit held in New Delhi has given directives for new initiatives specially to articulate regional and sub-regional projects with the possibility of finding funds from Social Window of SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and six Observers of the regional grouping - USA, Japan, Republic of Korea, EU, Iran and China, the source said.

The ministerial meeting will consider further mainstreaming the 22 SAARC Development Goals (SDGs). It will also review the national actions that member countries of the regional body have taken to realize the goals and bench marks of the ongoing SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation (2006-2015), the source said.

The meeting, among other matters, is expected to consider how to operationalise some of the innovative models like establishing SAARC village one in each member countries of the eight nation fora.

Meanwhile, India and Sri Lanka have already identified one SAARC village in their respective countries. One village in Murshidabad, West Bengal has reportedly been identified as Indian
SAARC village.

The SAARC Village aims at showcasing and replicating innovative development models of member states which would include areas of women empowerment, micro-credit, non-formal education, vocational training, solar energy, small scale irrigation and non-farm activities like poultry and dairy, the source added. 

 

@ The Bangladesh Journal