SAARC Information Centre (SIC), Nepal

The SAARC Information Centre is a new addition to the Regional Centres and has recently been approved by the SAARC bodies. The first meeting of the Governing Board of the Centre will be held during this year in Kathmandu.

The SAARC Plan of Action on Media and Information adopted by the Information Ministers at their first meeting in Dhaka in 1998 calls for the establishment of a SAARC Information Centre. This was approved by the Tenth Summit. The successive meetings of various SAARC bodies have given due emphasis on the subject. In this context, while appreciating the SAARC Secretariat's efforts for dissemination of information on SAARC and taking note of the existing mechanisms for publicity and projection of SAARC activities within and outside the region, the SAARC Information Ministers at their second meeting urged the establishment of a SAARC Information Center with a view to reaching to a wider audience in an effective manner.

Pursuant to the above directives, the Second Meeting of the Heads of TV and Radio Organisations decided to hold an Expert Group Meeting in Pakistan in mid-2003 to work out the technical details of the proposed Centre. The Expert Group Meeting identified the objectives, scope and functioning details of the Centre. Accordingly, establishment of the SAARC Information Centre in Nepal was approved by the Council of Ministers at its Twenty-fourth session held in Islamabad in January 2004. At the initial stage, the Centre would consist of production, research and training units.