A Memorandum of Understanding was
signed between SAARC and the United Nations Fund for Women on 30 December
2001, prior to the opening of the Twenty-seventh Session of the SAARC
Standing Committee in Kathmandu.
Under the MOU, SAARC and UNIFEM have agreed to help the Member States
to strive towards the goals of Gender Equality based upon the empowerment
approach in terms of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the
Beijing Plus Five Outcome Document as well as to promote mutual learning
and cross fertilization among developing countries for effectively tackling
the challenges relating to gender discrimination, women’s human rights
and women’s participation.