Institutions Involved
Organizers
South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) is a regional network that operates through its secretariat in Kathmandu and member institutions from five South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The overall objective of SAWTEE is to build the capacity of concerned stakeholders in South Asia in the context of liberalization and globalization (www.sawtee.org).
South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) is an independent, non-profit making, regional, non-governmental organization engaged in promoting policy dialogues, research and interaction between policy makers, business community and civil society by drawing in a wider constituency of people committed to promote regional cooperation in South Asia (www.saceps.org).
Partners
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an international development finance institution whose mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Headquartered in Manila, and established in 1966, ADB is owned and financed by its 67 members, of which 48 are from the region and 19 are from other parts of the globe. ADB's main partners are governments, the private sector, nongovernment organizations, development agencies, community-based organizations, and foundations (www.adb.org).
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 countries that support each other and work together towards shared goals in democracy and development. The world’s largest and smallest, richest and poorest countries make up the Commonwealth and are home to two billion citizens of all faiths and ethnicities—over half of whom are 25 or under. Member countries span six continents and oceans from Africa (19), Asia (8), the Americas (2), the Caribbean (12), Europe (3) and the South Pacific (10) (www.thecommonwealth.org).
The roots of the Dutch development NGO Oxfam Novib go back to 1956, with the creation of the Nederlandse Organizatie voor Internationale Bijstand (Dutch Organisation for International Assistance or Novib). In 1994, Novib joined Oxfam International, the worldwide known network of independent development and poverty alleviation organizations, and changed its name into Oxfam Novib (ON) in 2006. ON fights for five basic rights derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, namely: 1) right to sustainable livelihood resources; 2) right to basic social services; 3) right to life and security; 4) right to social and political participation; and 5) right to identity (www.oxfamnovib.nl).
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. It is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges (www.undp.org).
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the five regional commissions of the UN (www.unescap.org).
Collaborators
Established in 1993, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is mandated by its Deed of Trust to service the growing demand that originates from the emerging civil society of Bangladesh for a more participatory and accountable development process. CPD seeks to address this felt need by way of organizing multistakeholder consultations, conducting research on issues of critical national and regional interests, through dissemination of knowledge and information on key developmental issues, and by influencing the policy-making process in the country (www.cpd.org.bd).
The Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) was conceived in the mid-1980s as an autonomous institution designed to promote policy-oriented economic research and to strengthen the capacity for medium-term policy analysis in Sri Lanka. It was established by an Act of Parliament in December 1988 and was formally set up as a legal entity by gazette notification in April 1990. The organization is managed by a Board of Governors and the Executive Director. From its inception, IPS was supported through a collaborative project between the Royal Netherlands Government and the Government of Sri Lanka under four phases of operations to allow the Institute to gradually diversify its income and resource base (www.ips.lk).
Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) is an autonomous research institution established with the financial support of the Government of India. It is India’s contribution to the fulfilment of the long-felt need of the developing world for creating a ‘Think-Tank’ on global issues in the field of international economic relations and development cooperation. RIS has also been envisioned as a forum for fostering effective intellectual dialogue among developing countries. RIS is also mandated to function as an advisory body to the Government of India on matters pertaining to multilateral economic and social issues, including regional and sub-regional cooperation arrangements, as may be referred to it from time to time (www.ris.org.in).