Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday urged the SAARC Secretariat to intensify efforts to make the regional organization more functional and beneficial for the people of South Asia.
“SAARC is a forgotten word. If you can revitalize it, this will give dividends to the people of the whole region,” said Professor Yunus during a meeting with SAARC Secretary General Golam Sarwar at his office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.
Secretary General Sarwar expressed gratitude to Professor Yunus for his steadfast support of SAARC and noted the encouragement derived from the Chief Adviser’s recent call to South Asian leaders to revive the multilateral body.
During the meeting, the Secretary General briefed Professor Yunus on SAARC’s ongoing activities, including work by the Programming Committee, Governing Bodies of Regional Centres and Specialized Bodies, and events focusing on climate change, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), regional integration, and customs cooperation. He pointed out that in the absence of high-level meetings, these functional initiatives lacked adequate strength and clarity.
Both leaders discussed the importance of convening meetings of foreign secretaries, foreign ministers, and other sectoral ministers, as well as holding a summit of South Asian leaders, to enhance SAARC’s effectiveness.
“We have partnerships with a lot of organizations. We are trying to explore those,” said Secretary General Sarwar.
Professor Yunus suggested that the SAARC Secretariat work on multilateral issues such as exporting Nepal’s hydroelectric power to neighboring countries, including Bangladesh, India, and Bhutan.
The Chief Adviser also invited young people from SAARC member countries to participate in a youth festival scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in January. “This will be good because this focuses on youth. The whole SAARC idea is to bring people together. This could be one way of opening the door,” he said.
As SAARC celebrates the historic 40th Charter Day this year, the Secretary General sought continued support and guidance from the Government of Bangladesh to reinvigorate the SAARC process and achieve the organization’s charter objectives.
