History

History of SAARC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. These countries collectively represent over 20% of the global population. 

In addition, the following states hold observer status: Australia, China, European Union (states block), Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and the United States.

To realise the objectives of the charter, SAARC works on several areas of cooperation.

History of SAARC Youth Platform

 The SAARC Youth Platform is the successor organisation to the South Asian Regional Youth Conference on Post 2015 Development Agenda that was held in 2014 in Lahore, where the Lahore Youth Charter of Demands was produced.

 It serves as an umbrella network for youth led organisations in South Asia and provides a platform for their voices on topics important to them and the region. In addition, we engage our members in the work of SAARC and other relevant institutions and partners at the national, regional and global level that focus on or have implications for South Asia.

​We formally engage young people from the South Asia region in the work of SAARC and other relevant entities at the national, regional and global level, inter alia, UN ESCAP UN Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific), APINY (Asia Pacific Inter Agency Network on Youth), UN ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South West, Asian Development Bank, World Bank South Asia, European Union Asia Pacific Office, BIMSTEC ( Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) , UN MGCY,  Asia Pacific Regional Youth Caucus, Regional stakeholder Networks and other relevant multilateral and intergovernmental institutions.