SAF: A unique platform

Back
Daily-Sun, Bangladesh - 12th December 2012

Founded by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singh in 2000, the South Asia Foundation (SAF) is a secular, non-profit and non-political organisation comprising eight autonomous chapters: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

SAF’s core objective is to promote regional cooperation through a number of UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institutions of Excellence in the eight SAARC countries, offering courses in Preservation of Cultural Heritage (Kabul), UMSAILS (Dhaka), Forestry Studies (Bumthang, Bhutan), Journalism (Chennai), Kashmir Studies (Srinagar), Regional Cooperation (Pondicherry), Green Energy Technology (Pondicherry), Climate Research (Maldives), Development Studies (Kathmandu), Visual Arts (Lahore), South Asian Studies (Lahore), Water Management (Moratuwa, Sri Lanka).

SAF and UNESCO have been enjoying close ties since September 2002. Since the 27th session of the Council of Ministers of SAARC (Dhaka 1st - 2nd August 2006), SAF has been granted SAARC Apex Body status.

Like other SAARC countries, Bangladeshi students can get the opportunity to enrol in the aforementioned institutes every year. Students will get full free scholarship and economy air fare. Those interested are advised to see the detail of the scholarships in the daily newspapers from March to April every year.

Apart from the scholarship programme, SAF also promotes humanitarian, cultural and heritage issues. SAF also awards UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence. Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin has been awarded the 2004 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.

In 2011, UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence has been awarded to Anarkali Honaryar (Afghanistan) and Khaled Abu Awwad (Palestine).

South Asia Foundation donated one million dollars to UNESCO’s programmes for girls’ education and women’s empowerment this year.

SAF founder Madanjeet Singh is also a writer, authoring such books as The Timeless Energy of the Sun, The Sun in Myth and Art, Culture of the Sepulchre, Kashmiriyat, Himalayan Art, This My People, India Paintings from Ajanta Caves, The Oral and Intangible Heritage of South Asia and Asia Story. All these books are distributed free of cost among the SAARC countries. The individual SAF chapters distributed those books among their educational institutes.

SAF celebrated its tenth founding anniversary at the SAF Governing Council meeting at Villa Surya, Beaulieu Sur Mer, France, this year. Chairperson Dr. kamal Hossain, Vice Chairperson Prof. Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Deputy director of UMSAILS Dr. Uttam Kumar Das and Dewan Hasan Mahamood (Secretary of Advisory board, SAF) attended the conference from Bangladesh.

by Dewan Hasan Mahamood, SAF Secretary, Bangladesh Chapter

Source: daily-sun.com