The South Asia Follow Up Regional Technical Consultation on the UN Study on Violence Against Children was held from 29th to 30th May, 2012 in the premises of Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The event was graced by the delegation from each SAARC Member State comprising of Governing Board Member, National Coordinator, Child Participants, Chaperones, CSO representatives and media. The meeting also saw the presence of delegates from international associates and dignitaries from the host nation.
The event was organized by SAIEVAC Secretariat and was hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka with the support of the South Asia Coordinating Group on Action Against Violence Against Children (SACG) and in collaboration with the office of the SRSG on VAC.
The meeting commenced with the adoption of the agenda presented by the Director General, SAIEVAC which was followed by the selection of the Chair and the Co-Chair for the consultation. As per the standard SAARC practice, the floor unanimously nominated the Governing Board Member from Sri Lanka as the host nation to be the Chair of the meeting. Dr. Vivek Joshi, Governing Board member – India was voted as the Co-Chair.
The core components of the technical consultation encompassed the presentations from the eight Member States on the progress review on Violence against Children, presentation by Mr. Karma, CEO, SAARC Development Fund (SDF) on the ongoing SDF – SAIEVAC projects and the breakaway sessions on the following thematic areas.
- Enhancing Regional cooperation and cross border collaboration:
- Reinforcing multi-stakeholder partnerships at national and regional levels.
- Harmful traditional practices
- Addressing Child labour: Issues, Challenges and Good Practices
During the course of the consultation, the elected drafting committee finalized the declaration – “South Asia Call for Action on ending Violence against Children” which was presented by the Director General during the closing ceremony and later endorsed by the 3rd Governing Board Meeting.
The Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony was graced by the presence of Honourable Rathnasiri Wickramanyake, Senior Minister of Good Governance and Infrastructure Facilities as the chief guest. The Ceremony was also addressed by Mr. Ron Pouwels, Chairperson, SACG, Ms. Lily Yangchen, Child Representative, Mr. Tarak Dhital, CSO Representative, Honourable Marta Santos Pais, UN SRSG – VAC and M.L.A.M Hizbullah Hon’ble Deputy Minister MWCDE.
Ms. Sumithra Rahubaddhe, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs and Chairperson, Follow Up Regional Consultation concluded the Follow up Regional Consultation with the vote of thanks.