SAARC apex body for children establishes regional secretariat in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: The Regional Secretariat of South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children (SAIEVAC) has been established in Kathmandu. 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to that end was signed amidst a program at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare on Tuesday. In the presence of Ministry’s Secretary Dineshhari Adhikari, Ministry’s Joint Secretary Upendra Prasad Adhikari and SAIEVAC regional secretariat Director General Dr Rinchen Chhopel signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides. 

The SAIEVEC regional secretariat will, in conjunction with its national mechanisms which include among others the SAIEVEC Governing Board and National Coordinators in the SAARC member states, support the implementation of programs and projects that deal with the core themes and objectives of ending violence against children in SAARC member states, the MoU states. 

The organization was established in 2010 with the objective of promoting and protecting the rights of children in general and ending violence against children in particular in the SAARC region. 

The establishment of the regional secretariat in Nepal would help the organization to meet its mission.  

Ibrahim Zuhuree, Governing Board Member, Ron Powell of UNICEF South Asian regional office and SEIVAIC National Action and Coordinating Group on Action against Violence against Children (NACG) Chair Tarak Dhital expressed the hope that SEIVAIC programs would help control violence against children.