The South Asian People’s Summit 2000 was held from 8-10 December 2000 in Colombo after the postponement of the XI SAARC Summit. South Asia, a continent with an ancient civilization and a rich cultural heritage, is today confronted with challenges and problems. Complex tasks lie ahead. It is in this context that SAP-International called for a Summit to identify major issues and concerns of the South Asian community and to evolve possible solutions.

The main objective of the People’s Summit was the designing of a campaign to alleviate poverty, prevent violation of human rights, establish good governance and promote human development within the region. The Summit participants included representatives of NGOs, CBOs, trade unions, women’s movements and civil society organizations as well as students.

In order to effectively implement priority concerns, a process was adopted to prioritize major issues confronting the region. These were identified as:

• Peace and Regional Cooperation.
• Governance: Local and Regional.
• Human Rights and Human Development.
• Empowerment of Women.
• The Rights of the Child.

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