SAAPE general assembly starts

The South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)’s fourth general assembly kicked off in Kathmandu today with the theme 'People’s Struggles for Poverty Eradication: Towards a New Development Agenda in South Asia'.

Over 80 members from the eight countries of the region participated in the general assembly, representing people’s organisations, peasant movements, women movements, youth, workers' unions, informal sector, academia, human rights defenders, and grassroots social movements.

SAAPE is a regional people’s platform working against the structural causes of poverty and social injustices. Founding member of SAAPE from Nepal Dr Arjun Karki highlighted that SAAPE was founded to combat the ‘evils of anti-people’ neoliberalism invading the region.

Likewise, president of Jagaran Nepal Sharmila Karki, who is also president of NGO Federation of Nepal, pointed out that despite the historical achievement of the second people’s movement the consequent people’s mandate of writing the constitution has remained incomplete, demonstrating the grave democratic deficit in the country that has affected every other aspect.

The two-day general assembly will conclude with a Kathmandu Declaration calling for pro-poor and pro-people new development agenda in South Asia.