on 07-Dec-2020 (Mon)

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987.

The objectives of the Association as outlined in the SAARC Charter are: to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentials; to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; to strengthen cooperation with other developing countries; to strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interests; and to cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

The contribution of each Member State towards financing of the activities of the ASSOCIATION shall be voluntary.

2. Each Technical Committee shall make recommendations for the apportionment of costs of implementing the programmes proposed by it.

3. In case sufficient financial resources cannot be mobilised within the region for funding activities of the ASSOCIATION, external financing from appropriate sources may be mobilised with the approval of or by the Standing Committee.

There are currently nine Observers to SAARC, namely: (i) Australia; (ii) China; (iii) the European Union; (iv) Iran; (v) Japan; (vi) the Republic of Korea; (vii) Mauritius; (viii) Myanmar; and (ix) the United States of America.

Cooperation with Agencies/Organizations with whom SAARC does not have MoUs

1. Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)
2. International Co-op Alliance – Asia & Pacific (ICA – AP)
3. International Organization for Migration (IOM)
4. Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
5. United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
6. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
7. United States Forest Service (USFS)
8. United Nations Office for Coordination on Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)
9. Universal Postal Union (UPU)/Asia Pacific Postal Union (APPU)
10. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

SAARC DEVELOPMENT FUND

The 13th SAARC Summit (Dhaka, 12-13 November 2005) decided to establish SAARC Development Fund (SDF) as a comprehensive funding mechanism with the provision of three Windows (Social, Economic and Infrastructure).

SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY

The Agreement for the Establishment of South Asian University was signed by the Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs of the MSs of SAARC during the Fourteenth SAARC Summit (New Delhi, 4 April 2007).

As per Article 7 of the Agreement of the SAU, it is necessary for the MS to recognize the Degrees and Certificates awarded by the SAU at par with the respective Degrees and Certificates awarded by the National Universities / Institutions.

SOUTH ASIAN REGIONAL STANDARDS ORGANIZATION

The fifteenth SAARC Summit paved the way for establishing SARSO in order to harmonize standards and promote cooperation in the fields of metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment for enhancing the capacity of the respective national institutions in carrying out their technical tasks. The agreement on SARSO came into effect on 25th August 2011.

SAARC ARBITRATION COUNCIL

The agreement on SARCO was signed during the Thirteenth Summit and came into effect on 2 July 2007. SARCO was established with a view to resolve cost-effective settlement of disputes via arbitration within the region.