NEW DELHI, May 7: India and seven other nations comprising the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) will evolve strategies and agree on commitments to ensure the protection and security of children of the region at a two-day meeting being held here from May 9.
The landmark meeting, being hosted by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, will be preceded by a two-day technical consultation focusing on critical issues of child protection and violence in the region.
Delegates from the governments and civil society organisations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will assess progress and developments of the past decade of regional effort and identify priorities for SAIEVAC for the next five years.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh will deliver the keynote statement to the 4th Ministerial Meeting. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi will chair the meeting. Ministers of the member countries are expected to participate and make statements to provide the high-level regional leadership to set the course for SAIEVAC’s next period of regional action.
India will showcase some of its major initiatives like Trackchild and Khoya Paya, Childline-1098 and POCSO Act among others.
SAIEVAC is the apex body of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) created to bring governments of the region into active engagement for child protection against violence.
SAARC made history in 1986 by installing children as a ‘summit-level concern and commitment.’ The coming 4th Ministerial Meeting marking 30 years since that SAARC summit commitment, will also be addressed by present SAARC Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa is addressing the Ministerial meeting.
The 4th Ministerial Meeting carries forward the collective inter governmental ownership of SAIEVAC, which is reflected in its governing body composed of official members, representing each of the eight governments.
The technical consultation on May 9 and 10 will bring forward recommendations on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on regional child protection opportunities emerging from country experiences.
This will include India’s positive insights from its innovative measures for tracking and rescuing lost and missing children. The technical will also examine the potential of using information and communication technology for improving these measures. (UNI)
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