Important
Initiative
THE multitudes of
people in the South Asian region share a lot of common problems. Poverty is a common
denominator of the countries in the region. It was to try to fight the common ills
affecting the region that South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was
launched, binding the seven in a forum from where they could jointly undertake programmes
and activities for mutual benefits. Following the founding of SAARC, various regional
initiatives have sprung up. While many activities are being undertaken within the ambit of
the SAARC forum, civil societies in these countries have also been coming closer. One of
such initiatives is South Asia Foundation, set up to extend educational, scientific,
social and cultural activities to the rural areas through the medium of information and
technology and developing cordial relations between the civil societies and the
governments of the SAARC member countries. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated
the Foundation’s conference in Kathmandu on Tuesday that is participated in by some
80 representatives from the seven countries. Addressing the gathering, he stressed the
need to launch regional programmes with a clear policy between the member countries and
civil societies to reduce the problems of health, illiteracy and poverty, to identify
which, he said, the forthcoming SAARC summit that Nepal is hosting will also give priority
to. For meeting these challenges, the activities within the official SAARC purview alone
are far from sufficient. Civil societies across the region have to join hands to launch
programmes that complement the official SAARC’s agenda.
In this context, SAF can be
considered as one of the initiatives that could add to the ongoing regional programmes
undertaken at the governments’ level. From the views of the speakers at the
inauguration, it seems the Foundation’s priorities are not off the mark. One of the
first priorities of SAF is said to extend SAARC activities to the younger generation and
to the rural areas, through the medium of modern information technology. Also on the
agenda is a programme to disseminate news relating to cultural, scientific and social
aspects through 31 languages spoken in this region. While the coming days will show how
seriously the planned activities are being undertaken, the emphasis on information
technology and information dissemination can only be termed as appropriate. For, this
region of one billion people, one fifth of humanity, suffers greatly from backwardness in
information dissemination and management. It has not been able to grab opportunities
offered by advances in information technology. With important initiatives like those SAF
is planning, some of the region’s younger generation, especially those in rural
areas, could perhaps join the IT mainstream, and thus begin to reap benefits from it,
thereby alleviating poverty.
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