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Upon the invitation of Shri. Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Development Resource (MHRD) of the Republic of India, the Second Forum of Ministers of Social Development from South Asia met on 5 and 6 March 2008 in New Delhi, India. Ministers and High Level Officials from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the meeting. The meeting was co-organized with UNESCO.

H.E. Mr Wasil Noor Mohmand, Deputy Minister of Labour Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled of Afghanistan, Ms Rasheda K.Chowdry, Honourable Adviser, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Bangladesh, H.E. Mr Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho, Minister of Education, Royal Government of Bhutan, H.E. Shri Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development, and H.E. Mrs. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, India, Ms Racheeda Ali, Deputy Minister of Planning and National Development, Maldives, H.E. Ms Pampha Bhusal, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Nepal, H.E. Mr Shahid Malik, High Commissioner, High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and H.E. Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Sri Lanka, participated in the meeting. H.E. Mr Zola Sidney Skweyiya, Minister of Social Development, South Africa, and President of the MOST Programme, as well as Mr. Pierre Sané, UNESCO’s Assistant

Director-General for Social and Human Sciences and the Representative of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Prof. T.C.A. Anant also attended the meeting.

Shri. Arjun Singh, Minister of Human Resource Development had set the tone of the Meeting by drawing the attention of the participating dignitaries to the most apt quote from Mahatma Gandhi, on how the poorest of the poor and the weakest of weak must remain the focus of all our efforts and social development pursuits. The country presentations were made by the hon’ble Ministers from the SAARC member nations. Each in its own distinct and unique manner has reiterated the commitment towards social development for their people, and assurances of cooperation among the nations of the region. The Hon’ble Minister for Sri Lanka, mentioned the efforts of his Government not withstanding the difficult situation the country is witnessing. The concept of Gross National Happiness advocated by the Hon’ble Minister from Bhutan, the concern expressed by the Hon’ble Minister from Maldives about the high social indicators coexisting with disparities and the blossoming of civil society, the role of media and a free press flagged by the Hon’ble Minister from Nepal, the commendable efforts by the Government of Pakistan – all pointed to the seriousness with which each of the Governments in the region is approaching the issue of social development. Country presentation on India was made by Dr. Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Member, Planning Commission. Presentations were also made on social science policy linkages by UNESCO and ICSSR.

There was a separate session on the Right to Information Act, enacted by India, which was attended by Shri. Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Information Commissioner of India, Ms. Aruna Roy, Magasasay award winning social activist and Prof. Shekhar Singh, founder member, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information. The panelists outlined the origin, movement, the process and salient features of this seminal Act and its theoretical framework. The role played by the civil society and common man in the entire movement was appreciated while highlighting how the enactment of the law has strengthened the process of governance.

On the Second day, the participants were taken to a field visit to a project by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi under the citizenship-government partnership programme (Bhagidari) by the Munirka Vihar Welfare Association.

The two day meeting ended with the participating Ministers adopting the New Delhi Declaration. Referring to the Bhurban Declaration adopted by the Forum in its first meeting in May 2006 in Pakistan and similar historical and cultural linkages, going back thousands of years, the New Delhi Declaration underlined the relevance of empowering the peoples and civil society of the region through transparency, accountability and right to information leading to better governance and social development. The participating countries emphasized the need to establish the institutional framework of this forum in order to implement the plan of action outlined at Bhurban and New Delhi. It also encouraged the Member States to assist Afghanistan in addressing their special needs in education, technical vocational training and development of new technology, the protection of disabled persons and support of projects for vulnerable people, the protection of children at risk

and the control of the use of narcotics and drug trafficking. The Member countries also resolved to strengthen cooperation among Member countries in the field of Social Science research through i). Exchange of Best Practices ii) Exchange of Social Scientists iii) Pooling and exchange of information on research outcomes iv) Horizontal cooperation projects networking social science research institutions. The countries also agreed to promote and facilitate through exchange of Best Practices, early adoption in accordance with their national priorities of appropriate legislation conferring right to information for all citizens from the governments and public authorities, to eliminate arbitrariness and corrupt practices and improve governance at the regional, national and local level. The Member countries also agreed for a mid-term review meeting to be attended by all Member States for follow-up of the decisions taken at the Bhurban and New Delhi meetings.

The Third Meeting of the Forum will be held in Nepal.

HB/ HS
(Release ID :36072)