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SAF conforms in spirit
and purpose to SAARC - Lakshman Kadirgamar
[February
19, 2003 - 10.45 GMT]
“The reason for the
South Asia Foundation is regional cooperation, nourished by our common
culture, propelled by modern technology, and fired by the energy and
idealism of youth,” said Lakshman Kadirgamar in his welcome address at the
inauguration of the
South Asian Foundation (SAF) General Conference and launching of the South
Asia Foundation Learning Initiative (SAFLI), in Colombo recently.
Consisting of the seven
SAARC countries Kadirgamar said, “The
aims, objectives and activities of SAF are fully in conformity with the
spirit, purpose and principles of SAARC.”
Kadirgamar,
the chairperson of the Sri Lankan Chapter
of SAF explained that the Distance Learning operation to be launched would
fill a vital need for the South Asian region. He further said that SAARC
should adopt new initiatives, and work much more closely with civil society
than before.
“SAF
is a people-oriented organization. Given the lack of consistent political will, bureaucratic
lethargy, institutional deficiencies and lack of funds that governments
suffer from, there is a great deal that governments cannot, but
non-governmental organizations can do to help the people” he said.
Kadirgamar expressed
optimism that SAF would be successful, citing cultural interdependence,
similarities in culture, language and music as the reasons. “When you have
a mass of that kind, a vast number of human beings with enormous potential,
potential that is being revealed everyday in different areas of life, most
recently in the field of information technology, there is surely reason to
believe that a bright future awaits our people.”
[Full
Speech]
WELCOME
ADDRESS DELIVERED BY
HON.
LAKSHMAN KADIRGAMAR P.C., M.P.
CHAIRPERSON
(SRI LANKA CHAPTER)
AT
THE INAUGURATION OF THE SOUTH ASIA FOUNDATION (SAF) GENERAL CONFERENCE
&
LAUNCHING
THE SOUTH ASIA FOUNDATION LEARNING INITIATIVE (SAFLI)
18TH
FEBRUARY 2003
Your
Excellency President Kumaratunga
Hon.
Ministers of the Government of Sri Lanka,
Your
Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps,
My
fellow Trustees,
Vice
Chancellors of the Open Universities and representatives of other
institutions of higher education in South Asia,
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
My
task today is simply the very pleasant one of extending, on behalf of the
Board of Directors of the Sri Lanka chapter of the South Asia Foundation,
a warm welcome to all those, especially our visitors from abroad, who
are present this morning at the inauguration of the South Asia Foundation
General Conference and the launching of the South Asia Foundation Learning
Initiative.
The
South Asia Foundation is greatly honoured by the presence of Her Excellency
the President of Sri Lanka to inaugurate this conference.
Her Excellency has been for many years, and continues to be, very
much alive to the enormous significance that the provision of distance
learning facilities could have for the advancement of the youth of
South Asia. At the 10th
SAARC Summit held in Colombo in 1998, over which Her Excellency presided, a
decision was taken that SAARC should establish a forum of Vice Chancellors
of Open Universities to spearhead the development of distance education in
the region. But not much has been done at the inter governmental level in
pursuance of that initiative. On
the other hand, only a few days ago Her Excellency participated from Colombo
in a world wide teleconference on
the promotion of distance learning in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in
collaboration with the World
Bank. It was the initiative of Her Excellency, during a visit to the World
Bank's headquarters a few years ago, that led to the involvement of Sri
Lanka in this highly worthwhile project, and the procurement of funds for it
to the extent of a few million dollars. Thus, Her Excellency with her
typical dedication to causes that concern the poor, the disadvantaged, the
socially backward and underprivileged, was able swiftly to translate her
vision for the advancement of distance education in Sri Lanka into a vivid
reality. Therefore, Her
Excellency's views on this important subject carry special weight,
and will be given close attention by the South Asia Foundation.
The
South Asia Foundation, a relatively new non-governmental organisation
established by Ambassador Madanjeet Singh, a retired Indian diplomat, and
funded to the extent of over a
hundred million dollars through the munificence of his son, Mr. Jeet Singh,
a billionaire inventor of a powerful new software, is a voluntary, secular,
no profit and non-political youth movement which seeks to
promote greater solidarity, understanding, cooperation and progress
through education and sustainable
development among the peoples of South Asia.
The aims, objectives and activities of SAF are fully in conformity
with the spirit, purpose and principles of SAARC.
Mr.
Madanjeet Singh is an artist and an internationally known author of several
books published worldwide in many languages. As a young student activist,
Madanjeet Singh was imprisoned during the non-violent "Quit
India" movement against British colonial rule.
As a career diplomat, he served in diplomatic postings in Asia, South
America, Africa and Europe before working with UNESCO of which he is
currently a Goodwill Ambassador. In recognition of his life-long devotion to
the cause of communal harmony
and peace, a biennial "UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion
of Tolerance and Non-Violence" was established in 1995 by the UNESCO
Executive Board.
Mr.
Madanjeet Singh established the South Asia Foundation, and used his
considerable wealth to fund it,
because he ardently believes that the countries of South Asia, and likewise
other regional groups of countries, cannot possibly survive in the modern
world without effective cooperation among themselves.
Thus, the raison d'etre of
the South Asia Foundation is regional cooperation, nourished by our common
culture, propelled by modern technology, and fired by the energy and
idealism of youth. He believes
that peace and democracy can be strengthened by educational projects,
projects for sustainable development and partnership with nature.
It is from such grassroots projects that regional cooperation
essentially draws its great potential for
building a prosperous future for the peoples of our region.
The South Asia Foundation is a people-oriented organisation.
We are optimistic about the future of South Asia.
The
reason for that optimism is that our cultures are interdependent, deeply
common, historically ancient. The
links between all seven of us are unfathomable.
As ancient as they are, they are deeper than we think.
Not only do we look very much alike, we speak languages that have
remarkable similarity, our music is common, our culture is common, we are at
home where ever we go in this great region of
the world. When you have
a mass of that kind, a vast number of human beings with enormous potential,
potential that is being revealed every day in different areas of life, most
recently in the field of information technology, there is surely reason to
believe that a bright future awaits our peoples.
We are poor but we are full of promise, and when any mass of that
kind is full of promise there
is hope, there must be hope. Obviously
we will meet, periodically, obstacles, difficulties, political problems.
That is inevitable in the process of sovereign States trying to work
together. But ultimately the
future of our peoples will not lie in the hands of governments.
It will lie in the hands of the people.
I
wish to greet the Trustees, of the South Asia Foundation, all of them
distinguished public personalities in their respective countries, and
welcome them to Sri Lanka. The
Trustees, apart from Mr. Madanjeet Singh and his son, Mr. Jeet Singh, are
for Bangladesh - Dr. Kamal Hossain, eminent national and
international lawyer, first Minister of Law of Bangladesh and architect of
its Constitution under the late Sheik Mujibur Rahman, former Minister of
Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Mines and Minerals, currently UN
Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Vice Chairman, International Law
Association and Chairman Advisory Council of Transparency International.
For Bhutan, Hon.
Sangay Ngedup, former career diplomat, former Chairman of the Council of
Ministers under rotation and currently Minister for
Health and Education. For
India, Hon. I.K. Gujral,
former Prime Minister of India who needs no introduction.
Mr. Gujral is unable to be present with us today because of a sudden,
serious illness in his immediate family circle. He has
asked me to convey to this assembly his greetings and good wishes and
his regret at being unable to attend. For
Maldives - Hon.
Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, currently Minister of Planning and National
Development and a former Secretary General of SAARC.
For Nepal - Dr.
Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, distinguished economist, currently Nepal's Ambassador
to India, former Minister of Finance and former Ambassador to the United
States. For Pakistan
- Professor Salima Hashmi, painter, art educationist, writer and curator,
human rights and women's rights activist, former Principal of the National
College of Arts in Lahore. She
has exhibited her own work, lectured extensively world-wide and curated or
co-curated art exhibitions in many countries.
Some
20 Vice Chancellors mainly of Open Universities in the region, members of
the Academic Council of the South Asia Foundation Learning Initiative (SAFLI)
are present to participate in the SAF General Conference - I extend warm
greetings to all of them. This
week they will launch a massive distance learning programme that will link
the Open Universities and other educational institutions of South Asia.
The programme will offer a degree course on South Asia studies with
subjects that would encompass sustainable
development, women's empowerment, the environment, peace, cooperation and
development, renewable energy studies and human rights.
Soon this project will reach millions of people in the region,
ultimately perhaps hundreds of millions.
It will help to bring our young people into the 21st
century.
Other
projects already implemented by
the Foundation in various parts of the region include a documentation and
information centre in New Delhi, scout and girl guide friendship camps in
Bhutan and Maldives, scholarships in journalism at the Asian College of
Journalism in Chennai, a solar
energy project for remote rural areas in India, a project to rehabilitate
vulnerable girls in Nepal, assistance to SOS villages in Sri Lanka, and so
on. The possibilities are almost infinite.
Those
of us who know how SAARC works - and all the Trustees have considerable
experience of that - know well
what intergovernmental machinery can
do and what it cannot do. Indeed,
President Kumaratunga who is the Head of State who has had the longest
tenure of the Chair of SAARC - three and a half years -
knows that well too.
In
this century SAARC must adopt a number of new initiatives.
It must work much more closely with civil society than before.
There is a marked international trend towards the decentralisation of
government, the involvement of the private sector not only in economic but
in social and cultural activity, the empowerment of various interest groups
which have a contribution to make towards improving the quality of life of
our peoples. Given the lack of consistent political will, bureaucratic
lethargy, institutional deficiencies and lack of funds that governments
suffer from there is a great deal that
governments cannot, but non-governmental organisations can, do to
help the people.
A
good example is the distance learning operation that will be launched this
week. It fills a gap, a vital
need for the region. The 10th
SAARC Summit in Colombo talked about a distance learning programme;
the South Asia Foundation is
about to start implementing it. To
Mr. Jeet Singh and his team of
experts this project is going to be an exciting technical challenge.
They will strive for excellence.
Mr. Jeet Singh is a winner. He
will not fail. He could be
described,, if he does not mind it, as the Bill Gates of Asia.
On the other hand, Bill Gates could be described as the Jeet Singh of
the Western Hemisphere. But
the truth is that for this breed of inventive geniuses of the information
era who operate in cyberspace
there are no territorial or hemispheric boundaries no border disputes.
They cater to all. They serve the entire global community without
distinction of race or creed or geographical origin.
For the young of Asia a treat awaits them.
They will need no reason to access the distance learning programme of
the South Asia Foundation.
END
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Last Updated
Date: February 19, 2003 - 10.45
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