INTRODUCTION

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organisation

of south asian nations founded in December 1985 and dedicated to social, cultural,
techonological and economical development with emphasis on self reliance..

The objectives of the Association as defined in the 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 realise their full
potential; 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 interest; and to cooperate with
international and regional organisations with similar aims and puiposes.

The Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation was adopted by the Foreign
Ministers in 1983 in New Delhi. During the meeting, the Ministers also launched the
Integrated Programme of Action (IPA) in nine agreed areas, namely, Agriculture;
Rural Development; Telecommunications; Meteorology; Health and Population
Activities; Transport Postal Services Science and Technology; and Sports, Arts and
Culture.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established
when its Charter was formally adopted on 8 December 1985 by the Heads of State
or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka. Afghanistan was added to the regional grouping at the behest of India on
November 13, 2005, and became a member on April 3,2007. With the addition of
Afghanistan, the total number of member states were raised to eight (8). In April
2006, the United States of America and South Korea made formal requests to be
granted observer status.

The European Union has also indicated interest in being given observer status, and
made a formal request for the same to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in
July 2006. On August 2, 2006 the foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed
in principle to grant observer status to the US, South Korea and the European Union.
On March 4, 2007, Iran requested observer status. Followed shortly by the entrance
of Mauritius.

In August 1983, the ongoing process was given a political push. At the first Foreign
Ministers' Conference in New Delhi, the South Asian Regional Cooperation (S ARC)
Declaration was adopted. Following this the organisational structure of SAARC was
final. Thereafter, the first summit meeting took place in Dhaka in December 1985
and SAARC was formally launched.

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The leaders decided in favour of a Council of Ministers and a Secretariat, certifying
their enduring commitment to the organisation. In February 1987, the SAARC
Secretariat came into being with a secretary general and four directors. Later- the
SAARC Council of Ministers was formed consisting of the foreign ministers of
respective member states.

Organisational Structure

The New Delhi meeting of foreign ministers in 1983, the organisational structure of
the SAARC assumed a clear form and shape. It developed as a four-tier structure. At
the lowest level were the Technical Committees of experts and officials formulating
programmes of action and organising seminars and workshops.

Next was the Standing Committee of Foreign Secretaries to review and coordinate
the recommendations of the Technical Committees, which was to meet at least once
a year. Above this was the Foreign Ministers' Conference, also to be held which was
to meet at least once a year to grant political approval to the recommendations of the
Standing Committee. At the apex was the Summit Meeting to be held annually to
give political significance to SAARC.

The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on January 16, 1987 and
was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal.

It is headed by a Secretary General appointed by the Council of Ministers from

Member Countries in alphabetical order for a three-year term.

He is assisted by the Professional and the General Services Staff, and also an
appropriate number of functional units called Divisions assigned to Directors on
deputation from Member States The Secretariat coordinates and monitors
implementation of activities, prepares for and services meetings, and serves as a
channel of communication between the Association and its Member States as well
as other regional organisations.

The Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Secretariat which

was signed by Foreign Ministers of member countries on November 17, 1986, at
Bangalore, India contains various clauses concerning the role, structure and
administration of the SAARC Secretariat as well as the powers of the Secretary-
General.

In several recent meetings the heads of state or government of member states of

SAARC have taken some important decisions and bold initiatives to strengthen the
organisation and to widen and deepen regional co operation. The SAARC
Secretariat and Member States observe 8 December as the SAARC Charter Day.

Criticism

SAARC's inability to play a crucial role in integrating South Asia is often credited the
political and military rivalry between India and Pakistan.

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It is due to these economic, political, and territorial disputes that South Asian nations
have not been able to harness the benefits of a unified economy. Over the years,
PARC's role in South Asia has been greatly diminished and is now used as a more
platform for annual talks and meetings between its members.

Politicai issues

SAARC has intentionally laid more stress on "core issues" mentioned above rather
than more decisive political issues like the Kashmir dispute and the Sri Lankan civil
war. However, political dialogue is often conducted on the margins of SAARC
meetings. SAARC has also refrained itself from interfering in the internal matters of
its member states. During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis
was laid upon greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight terrorism.

Objectives

The objectives of the association are as follows:

To advocate for the welfare of the peoples of South Asia so as to improve the
quality of their lives
To promote the economic growth, social progress and cultural development of
the region and allow every person to live with dignity and achieve their full
potential
To build and reinforce a cooperative self-sufficiency among member countries
To allow for mutual understanding, dependence and acknowledgment of each
countries problems
To promote cooperation and support in the economic, social, cultural,
technical and scientific fields
To encourage collaboration with other developing nations
To create a common mutually beneficial stance on certain issues in the
international forums
To work with other international bodies with similar aims and purposes
ONE OF ITS MAJOR OBJECTIVE IS TO PROMOTE CHILD WELFARE.

CONVENTIONS RELATING TO CHILD

WELFARE (saarc)
Children constitute principle assets of any country. Childrens development is very
important for the overall development of society and the best way to develop national
human resources is to take care of children. India has the largest child population in
the world. All out efforts are being made by the Government for the development
and welfare of children. A number of policy initiatives have been taken for this
purpose.
The National Policy for children lays down that the State shall provide adequate
services towards children, both before and after birth and during the growing stages
for their full physical, mental and social development. The measures suggested
include amongst others, a comprehensive health programme, supplementary
nutrition for mothers and children, free and compulsory education for all children up

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to the age of 14 years, promotion of physical education and recreational activities,
special consideration for children of weaker sections including SCs and STs and
prevention of exploitation of children, etc.
The Government of India has also adopted the National Charter for Children, which
has been prepared after obtaining the views/comments and suggestions of the State
governments/UT Administrations, concerned Ministries and Departments and
experts in the field. The National Charter is a statement of intent embodying the
Governments agenda for children. The document emphasizes Government of
Indias commitment to childrens rights to survival, health and nutrition, standard of
living, play and leisure, early childhood care, education, protection or the girl child,
empowering adolescents, equality, life and liberty, name and nationality, freedom of
expression, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, the right to a family and
the right to be protected from economic exploitation and all forms of abuse. The
document also provides for protection of children in difficult circumstances, children
with disabilities, children from marginalized and disadvantaged communities, and
child victims. The document while stipulating the duties of the State and the
Community towards children also emphasizes the duties of children towards family,
society and the Nation. The National Charter for Children was notified in the Gazette
of India on 9th February, 2004.
India has also acceded to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to reiterate
its commitment to the cause of children. The objective of the Convention is to give
every child the right to survival and development in a healthy and congenial
environment.
India is also party to the Millennium Development Goals and the SAARC
Conventions on Child Welfare and Combating Trafficking of Women and Children is
SAARC Region. Now let us discuss about the same in some detail.

SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children

The development of children and the promotion of their well-being is a principal area
of cooperation identified by SAARC from its very inception. The objective of building
a region-wide consensus on social action for achieving the rights of the child and the
goals set for them within the framework of a survival, development and protection
strategy was addressed during the Ministerial Conferences on Children held in Delhi
(1986), Colombo (1992), Rawalpindi (1996) and Colombo (2009).

The Fourth SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children, Colombo 10 July 2009, held
after a gap of about twelve years, inter alia, reviewed the progress of work related to
assessment of the implementation of the SAARC Decade of the Rights of the Child
(2001-2010) and decided that SAARC Secretariat should convene an Expert Group
Meeting to provide feedback on the preliminary assessment report and to finalize the
report.

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Colombo Declaration

The Colombo declaration signed by the member countries take stock of progress
made since the Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children in South Asia,
Islamabad, Pakistan, 19-21 May 2005 and the endorsement of the UN Study on
Violence against Children by the General Assembly in 2006, in order to strengthen
measures and processes aimed at ending violence against all children in all settings.
Held under the aegis of SAIEVAC, the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against
Children, an apex body of SAARC, the regional follow up reaffirmed their
commitment made by Governments to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
its Optional Protocols, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the SAARC Social Charter, the SAARC Convention
on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare, the SAARC
Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for
Prostitution, the SAARC Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Children
Affected by HIV/AIDS.
Working towards a vision of a region free from all violence against children in
all forms, the representatives from SAARC countries therefore collectively
deliberated, along with civil society organizations, experts on child rights and
violence against children, professionals, and academicians, and called for the
following actions-

1. Develop and strengthen equitable national and local child protection

systems including laws, policies and standards; that prevent, mitigate and
respond timely and appropriately to all forms of violence and to ensure that
mechanisms and services are accessible to all children.

2. Develop and implement laws and policies that focus on safeguarding

children from potential harm and that ban all forms of violence against
children in all settings, including home and family, schools and educational
settings, care and justice systems, work settings and the community;

3. Address social norms and practices that are harmful to children by

promoting social change to end violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect of
children;

4. Consolidate and validate a national system for disaggregated data

collection, analysis , dissemination, and a systematic research agenda to
inform policy development and resource mobilisation to protect children from
violence;

5. Review/adopt and implement a national plan of action to integrate the

recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children and
SAIEVAC work plan and develop a baseline to be able to measure progress;

6. Invest in and evolve policies and processes to strengthen the participation

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 of children in decisions, through supporting and strengthening child-led
organizations/forums;

7. Cooperate through structure, processes and resources in the best interest

of children to address cross-border issues, such as trafficking, missing
children, HIV and AIDS and drug abuse and repatriation;

8. Develop mechanisms to address the safety of children with reference to the

use and engagement with digital technologies;

9. Share lessons and good practices and explore new opportunities for
Cooperation to advance the protection of children through establishing a
SAIEVAC centre of excellence on violence against children;

10. Strengthen regional and country-level cooperation and coordination

between governments, NGOs, CSOs, children and young people, academia,
independent human/child rights institutions, Parliamentarians, religious
leaders, media, private sector as well as bilateral and multilateral agencies
including UN agencies/INGOs;

11. Expedite the establishment of National SAIEVAC Chapters to accelerate

existing efforts to end violence against children; and

12. Contribute to the establishment and implementation of an operational

framework/ mechanism for monitoring and accountability at all levels to
stimulate and accelerate effective realisation of the above mentioned actions.

SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangement for the Promotion of Child

Welfare in South Asia

Pursuant to the decision of the Ninth Summit, the SAARC Convention on Regional
Arrangements on the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia was signed in
January 2002 during the Eleventh Summit in Kathmandu. The Convention envisages
to facilitate the development of full potential of the South Asian child.

Welcoming the signing of the Convention, at their Eleventh Summit (Kathmandu,

January 2002), the Leaders reaffirmed their conviction that children in South Asia
deserve urgent and focused attention to achieve the overall progress of the countries
in the region. That Summit, therefore, directed the Council of Ministers to take
necessary measures to ensure the enjoyment by girl child of her inherent potential
and to take concrete steps to give priority to investing in children as an effective
means for poverty reduction in the long run.

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The Eleventh Summit also agreed to mobilize necessary resources and to intensify
broad-based actions to achieve a set of priority goals in improving the status of
children, such as polio eradication; protection of children from mother-to-child
transmission of HIV/AIDS; and quality basic education to children.

A Regional Task Force has been formed in all the Member States to monitor and
assess the implementation of various provisions of the SAARC Convention on
Regional Arrangement for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia.

The Regional Task Force has met in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

During the First Meeting of the Regional Task Force (New Delhi, 26 July 2007), it
was decided that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to implement various
provisions of the Convention, including reporting under Article VIII (5) and
repatriation of victims of Trafficking and related matters as defined in the Convention,
would be developed.

The convention defines a child as any person who has not completed 18 years of
age who is a national of the region, unless under national law majority is attained
earlier. The purpose of the convention is to solidify the commitments the South Asian
countries have made as the world summit and to other international bodies by
encouraging mutual cooperation and assistance. The aim is to protect the rights of
the child while realising the full potential of each child and their responsibilities and
duties. This can be done by setting up regional arrangements to assist member
states.

The convention states that countries should recognise the rights of a child as laid out
in the UNCRC and uphold the rights of the family as primary caregivers, and the best
interests of the child. To achieve their goals states regional priorities should be
recognising the need for essential services such as education and health both
preventive and curative, provide appropriate legal and administrative safety nets
such as national laws that protect the child from abuse, exploitation, neglect,
violence, discrimination, trafficking, and child labour. There is need to set up
appropriate and child-friendly systems for juvenile justice, registration of births, child
participation, etc. States should encourage local media to cater to the needs of
children by providing them with information that is socially and culturally beneficial to
the development of the child.

The convention outlines the following regional mechanisms that promote

collaboration and support of the member nations aiming to create an environment
that fully realises the rights of the child and provides for the well being of the child.

Create opportunities for sharing of information, experiences and skills

Facilitate human resource development through SAARC training programmes
Facilitate a speedy dismissal and transfer of children in conflict with law or in
need of care and protection who are nationals of other SAARC countries to
their country of legal residence for rehabilitation and reintegration
Fortify the relevant SAARC bodies dealing with child issues so as to ensure
proper implementation of regional strategies and measures of child protection.

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 Establish a nutrition programme that aims at promoting knowledge and
attaining higher levels of nutrition in children and women through awareness
campaigns, education, training, food security and food distribution systems.

The convention encourages states to adopt these standards in accordance with their
own constitution, laws and other measures. It outlines the need for coordination with
other international bodies such as the UN and UN agencies as well as local NGOs to
achieve the goals of the convention.

iii. SAARC Regional Strategic Framework for the Protection, Care and Support
of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS

The need of facilitating evidence based advocacy and programming for children
affected by HIV and AIDS was identified as a key issue in the SAARC Regional
Strategy on HIV and AIDS (2006-2010) formulated on the direction of the 12th
SAARC Summit (Islamabad, January 2004) and its Work Plan endorsed at the 27 th
Session on the Council of Ministers (Dhaka, August 2006). The Strategy articulates
the need to facilitate evidence based advocacy and programming for children
affected by HIV and AIDS in the Member Countries and to coordinate the efforts
towards developing costed actions plans in all countries through the mechanism of a
regional forum. The Regional Consultation on Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in
South Asia held in Kathmandu in May 2007 formulated a common strategic
approach for policy and programming to protect and support these children and their
families, namely, SAARC Regional Strategic Framework for the Protection, Care
and Support of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS.

The Framework places children affected by HIV/AIDS within the broader group of
children in difficult circumstances, and focuses on delivering an integrated response
to childrens medical, nutritional, educational, legal and psychosocial needs, in line
with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It calls for a universal approach to
ensure that children affected by HIV/AIDS have access to the same public and social
support systems which are available to other children, rather than being separated or
singled out among their peers. This is linked to measures to address the stigma
attached to HIV/AIDS, and to intervene on behalf of children who are discriminated
against as a result of this stigma.

In a Regional Consultation to finalize the Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines for

the SAARC Regional Strategic Framework for Protection, Care and Support of
Children Affected by HIV/AIDS held in Kathmandu from 4-5 November 2009, the
Member States agreed to final M and E Guide and also to operationalize the
indictors. This framework is incoperated into the SAARC Regional Strategy on
HIV/AIDS (2012-2016)

iv. SAARC Decade of the Rights of Child (2001-2010)

Third Ministerial Conference on the Children of South Asia held in August 1996, at
Rawalpindi recommended the observance of the SAARC Decade of the Rights of the
Child (2001-2010).

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During the Eleventh SAARC Summit (Kathmandu, 4-6 January 2002, the Leaders
directed the Council of Ministers to take concrete steps to give priority to investing in
children as an effective means for poverty reduction in the long run. Reaffirming their
commitment to the Colombo Plan of Action and the Rawalpindi Declaration and
recalling the declaration of 2001 to 2010 as the SAARC Decade of the Rights of the
Child, the Heads of State or Government noted with appreciation the South Asia
High-level Meeting on Children held in Kathmandu in May 2001. They reaffirmed
their conviction that the children in South Asia deserve urgent and focused attention
to enhance the long-term and overall progress of the countries of the region.

The Thirteenth SAARC Summit (Dhaka, November 2005), decided that a mid-term
review of the progress in realizing the objectives of SAARC Decade of the Rights of
the Child, should be undertaken.

The Fourth SAARC Ministerial Conference on Children (Colombo, July 2009)

recommended that an Expert Group Meeting should be held to provide feedback on
the report of the preliminary assessment as well as additional comments on the
questionnaire and take guidance on conducting the in-depth assessment of
implementation of the SAARC Decade of the Rights of the Child.

SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating the Trafficking in Women

and Children for Prostitution

In 2002, during the SAARC decade of the rights of the child, the SAARC countries
adopted the convention on preventing and combating the trafficking of women and
children for prostitution. The convention defines a child as any person who has not
completed 18 years of age. The purpose of the convention is to battle and prevent
the trafficking of women and child, the rehabilitation and repatriation of victims of
trafficking and to combat any prostitution networks, especially where SAARC
countries are the origin, transit or destination country. It is the responsibility of the
states to create a law or penal code criminalising any act of trafficking and putting
into place penalties for violation of the law. As per the law any person who keeps,
maintains, manages or knowingly finances, or partly finances, a place used for the
trafficking or knowingly rents, or lets property for the purpose of trafficking or
attempts or abets any of the above actions should be punishable by law. The judicial
systems in each state need to be able to adjust verdicts and punishments when
there are aggravating circumstances that make the offence particularly grave, such
as involvement of organised crime groups, offence by public servants, victimization
of children, offences committed in educational or custodial institutions, etc.

The convention calls the state to provide each other with the maximum amount of
mutual assistance with regard to trials, investigations and legal proceedings.
Requests of assistance can be made to any member state and shall be dealt with as
promptly as possible. The offences described in the convention should be
considered extraditable, meaning that a person accused of a crime under this
convention shall be sent to his/her state of legal residence to be tried in that court.
This convention hence acts as an extradition treaty among SAARC countries where
one does not exist with regard to offences of trafficking of women or children.

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States should take measures to prevent trafficking by training authority officers to put
a stop to such actions, create regional task forces, set up mechanism to share
information and interdict trafficking, supervise employment agencies, and create
awareness through the use of media to help find sources of trafficking. It is also
responsibility of the states to rehabilitation and repatriate victims of trafficking. States
should provide for sending victims back to their country of origin, provide for care
and maintenance of victims, recognise NGOs that set up protective homes and
shelters for victims, and recognise NGOs that aim at prevention and intervention of
trafficking.

CONCLUSION
Despite considerable achievements in all SAARC Member States during the Decade
of the Rights of the Child 2001-2010, the formidable challenges noted throughout
persist. While individual countries have their own choices and needs in pursuing
child rights, some overarching strategies are common to all. If the recommendations
of the MDGs, SDGs and SAARC Ministerial declarations are to become a reality, in a
timely manner, South Asia needs to hasten its steps and scale up a number of
actions toward reaching the goals of international and Regional commitments.

In line with these commitments, the following recommendations are practical

guide to further the efforts of the SAARC .In so doing, it puts forward eight points for
a new agenda for action that can make a huge difference in the lives of children and
women across the Region.
These are:-
-Urgently further address child malnutrition
-Improve access to and use of safe water and improved sanitation.
-Expand non-discriminatory access to free primary health and education services
-Enhance investment in quality education, health and social services that respect,
protect and fulfil adolescents rights.
-Enhance and make more effective child protection efforts.
-Enhance a better-integrated response to the health, nutritional, education, HIV/AIDS
prevention, legal and psycho-social rights of children and young people aged 10-24.
-Strategically further assess progress made by Developing an annual monitoring
and reporting system to regularly provide assessments to the SAARC Technical
Committee on Women, Youth and Children, allowing it to take stock of Regional
progress in implementation of both Regional and international commitments in child
welfare and rights.

THUS it is important to align the domestic and international efforts for full and better
protection of children (the gift of god) and aligning all our policies and intitatives
understanding and realizing that love and empathy are the basic tenets to bring in
fuller development of the young ones.

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