ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ICSW South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) January 2003 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The International Council on Social Welfare grate- fully acknowledges the Department for International Development United Kingdom, the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for For- eign Affairs of Finland for their financial support of this project and this publication. ICSW South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 1
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON SOCIAL WELFARE International Council on Social Welfare The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) is a global non-governmental organisation which represents a wide range of national and international member organisations that seek to advance social welfare, social justice and social develop- ment. ICSW ICSW's basic mission is to promote forms of social and economic development which aim to reduce poverty, hardship and vulnerability throughout the world, especially amongst disadvantaged people. It strives for recognition and protection of fundamental rights to food, shelter, education, health care and security. It believes that these rights are an essential foundation for freedom, justice and peace. It seeks also to advance equality of opportunity, freedom of self-expression and access to human services. In working to achieve its mission, ICSW advocates policies and programs which strike an appropriate balance between social and economic goals and which respect cultural diversity. It seeks implementation of these proposals by governments, international organisations, non-governmental agencies and others. It does so in cooperation with its network of members and with a wide range of other organizations at local, national and international levels. ICSW's main ways of pursuing its aims include gathering and disseminating information, undertaking research and analysis, convening seminars and conferences, drawing on grass-root experiences, strengthen- ing non-governmental organizations, developing policy proposals, engaging in public advocacy and working with policy-makers and administrators in government and elsewhere. In 2001, the International Council on Social Welfare began a three-year project that focuses on strength- ening civil society input into long-term or emerging regional intergovernmental structures such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African Union (AU) and others. The project aims to encourage regional agreements on social development issues and to advocate the implementation of social policy instruments at a regional level. Among civil society organisations there is often a lack of awareness on the importance, roles and activities of regional intergovernmental structures such as SAARC. ICSW is therefore developing a series of briefing papers on the different groupings in order to highlight their work and explore the ways that civil society organisations can interact with them. The paper aims to describe the history and evolution of SAARC, describe the structures and mecha- nisms that guide the work of SAARC, review some of the mechanisms for social development organisations to be involved at the level of SAARC and look at the opportunities for interaction by civil society organisations with the SAARC secretariat. 2 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ICSW
1) Acknowledgement 2) SAARC - A Profile 3 3) Charter