What is SAARC?

& Who are its members?

Established on 8 December 1985.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted . Its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and cooperation with other developing countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Ass ociation_for_Regional_Cooperation#SAARC_A ward

The late President of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman, on May 2, 1980.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Ass ociation_for_Regional_Cooperation#SAARC_A ward

Objectives Of SAARC
The objectives and the aims of the Association as defined in the Charter are: To promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential; To promote and strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia;

 To contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries; To strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest; and To cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes. To maintain peace in the region
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for_Regional_Cooperation#Obj ectives_Of_SAARC

Principles
The principles are as follows: Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political equality and independence of all members states. Non-interference in the internal matters is one of its objectives. Cooperation for mutual benefit. All decisions to be taken unanimously and need a quorum of all eight members. All bilateral issues to be kept aside and only multilateral(involving many countries) issues to be discussed without being prejudiced by bilateral issues.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for_Region al_Cooperation#Principles

Council of Ministers consisting of the Foreign Ministers of the Member States established with the following functions: Formulation of the policies of the ASSOCIATION Review of the progress of cooperation under the ASSOCIATION Decision on new areas of cooperation Establishment of additional mechanism under the ASSOCIATION as deemed necessary Decision on other matters of general interest to the ASSOCIATION. The Council of Ministers meets twice a year. Extraordinary session of the Council may be held by agreement among the Member State
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Association_for_R egional_Cooperation#Council_Of_Ministers

Agriculture and Rural Biotechnology Culture Economic and trade Education Energy Environment Finance Funding Mechanism

Information, Communication and Media People-to- People contacts Poverty Alleviation Science and Technology Security aspects Social development Tourism
http://saarc-sec.org/

The main objectives of the SAARC Award are: -to encourage individuals and organizations based in South Asia to undertake programmes and activities complementing the efforts of SAARC -to encourage individuals and organizations in South Asia contributing to the improvement of the conditions of women and children

-to honour outstanding contributions and achievements of individuals and organizations within the region in the fields of peace, development, poverty alleviation, environment protection and regional cooperation making the SAARC Award the most prestigious Award in the region; and -to honour any other outstanding contributions and achievements, not covered above, of individuals and organizations in the region.
The SAARC Award comprises of a gold medal, a letter of citation and cash prize of US $ 25,000. http://saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Award/70/

The SAARC Youth Awards Scheme was instituted in 1996 to provide recognition to extraordinary young talents and encourage the overall development of the youth in the region. The Scheme is also aimed at encouraging the South Asian youth to excel in various fields and to realize their full potential.
The SAARC Youth Awards Scheme is open to nationals of SAARC Member Countries, who are within the age group of 20-35 years at the time of nomination. The Award consists of a citation in English; a Gold Medal; and a cash prize of US$ 3000.

http://saarc-sec.org/SAARC-Youth-Award/71/