"People'summits",eldannually ince2000
parallelo the SouthAsianAssociationor
RegionalCooperationSAARC)Summit aims topromote peopletopeopledialogueerchangesnd inkagesnSouthAsiao address eqional ssues. hisointcivil societyinitiativeprcvides piatformo act on a"people'sgenda" nd helpscivil society o engagwithnationalgovernmentsndregionalnstitutions.heparticipationfAfghanistann the6thPeople'summitwaswelcomedn whichmore han 200
peopl€rorn8 countrieswe th€peopleandnetworksof SouthAsia-Afqhanistan,Bangladesh, hutan,ndia,MaJdives, epal,Pakistan nd Sri Lanka aveassembledn NewDeihi, ndia rom l4arch 1-April2,2oo7 stronglycondemn he increased efense pending €spiteepeated emandfrom thepeopleor al0%annualeduction nd utilizationof these amounts orpeople'The summit stronglyd€mandsor the establishment f a ReqionalSecurityCounciloramending uclearpolicieso curbproliferationfnuclearweapons nd makesouth Asiaa
violence nd nuclear ree zone.Thesunmitdenouncesheprivatizatio.f basic ervicesncluding at€r, ealth,ducatiandpowerndd€mandsnend o imperialistnd he neo iberal conomicolicies.Thepeople'sum.nit xpress oncern ver heproblemsacedby thepeopleravelingwithinthereqionand demand hat SAARC tat€smustdeclare isa
ree south Asia o facilitate hefree movemen! fpeople.A transparent nd non-bureaucraticnstitutionalmechanismeedto be establishedo ensure heriqhtsof themiqrantworkers.SorithAsianStateParties houldguaranteeasiceconomic ndsocial ightsof the
peoplebyseftingninimumegional tandardsnd by institutingconcrete ocialsecuritym€asu.es
oprovideminimumncome, nemploymentenefits,eathcareandeducationor all citizens
It sho!ldensureustand air radeandreduceisparitiesxisting n the region.The summitdemandshe stat€ Parti€s or the immediate atificationnd implementatioof SAARC onvention nhuman raffjcking. It urges or adoptionandratificationof theregionalVictim/WitnessrotectionProtocol o combat rafficking,commercial xPloitatioandserual buse f women ndchrldrennl'ere9,on.Thesummit ecommendshe creation f SouthAsianParliament
or building rust andregionalcooperation,Thesummit demandscomprehensiveoliciesand strategiesor achieving he SAARDeveloDm€nt oalswith adequate inancialallocations.AdditionallySAARC ev€lopmegoalsshould nclude gendasorpromotingocialnclusion,eace,human ightsanddisastermanaoement,