CIRDAP DU.1/108-                                                                                                

25 June 2008

PRESS RELEASE

Asia-Pacific Countries Adopt Delhi Declaration on Sustainable Livelihood  (View)

Asia-Pacific Ministerial Retreat Held in Delhi

New Delhi, 25 June 2008: Ministers and Senior Officials from the Asia-Pacific Countries adopted the Delhi Declaration on Sustainable Livelihood during a Ministerial Retreat held today. The Ministerial Retreat on Rural Development for the Asia Pacific region was jointly organised by the Government of India and the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) and was held at the Vigyan Bhavan in the capital. 

H.E. Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, the Hon’ble Minister of Rural Development of Government of India presided over the Retreat. Ministers and/or their representatives from the following CIRDAP member countries participated in the retreat: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The theme for the Ministerial Retreat was Sustainable Livelihood with special focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Women Empowerment in the context of rural development.

In the Declaration, the Ministers strongly reiterated their commitment to rural development, to eradicate poverty and promote gender equality in the region.

While appreciating the efforts of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, in effectively implementing various rural development programmes, the members noted that some of the member countries had made significant progress in poverty reduction. 

The declaration agreed upon taking some affirmative action in CMCs on the improvement of rural livelihoods, empowerment of rural women and leveraging ICT for rural development, in terms of Policy and Strategy. Some of these include promoting regional cooperation in marketing of rural products, promoting ICT to reach rural areas, promoting gender equality and the strategies to achieve them.  The declaration called for simple affordable and cost effective technology with maximum coverage in rural areas. 

Earlier this morning, the Retreat began with opening remarks from the Director General of CIRDAP Dr. Durga Paudyal. The Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh set the tone of the Retreat and Dr. Rita Sharma, the Secretary of Rural Development conducted the programme.

Two keynote papers were presented during the business session: ‘Leveraging ICT for Effective Implementation of Rural Development Programmes’ by Dr. B.K Gairola, Director General of NIC, Govt. of India and ‘Gender Equality and Empowerment in Rural Development Programmes’ by Ms. Renana Jhabvala, National Coordinator for SEWA, India. The presentations were followed by lively discussion among the participants.

Country statements were made by all the participating countries. The Ministerial Retreat concluded with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration by the Ministers of Rural Development of CIRDAP member countries.

The Ministerial Retreat and the Special Meeting of the CIRDAP Governing Council was inaugurated by the Vice President of India on 24 June 2008.

DG, CIRDAP

DG, CIRDAP mentioned that this coming period is going to be extremely important time for CIRDAP with such important events that are set to reorient the path for rural development in the member countries. He stated that at CIRDAP, several new initiatives are underway, for identifying useful areas, to attract collaborative partners for funding and logistic support.