Training Report: Millennium Development Goals in the SAARC Region

Executive Summary
Executive Summary
SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC), Islamabad organized a
training course on “Millennium Development Goals in the SAARC Region: Progress,
Prospects and Way Forward” from July 16-21, 2012. Brig (R) Amanullah, Director
General, National Centre for Rural Development, Islamabad inaugurated the training
course. Participants from Afghanistan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
attended the course.
The main objectives of the training course included: to assist senior policy makers,
planners, and practitioners of the region to develop and implement the MDGs-based
national development strategies through sharing of good practices and lessons learnt; to
develop skills to help integration of the MDGs into national development plans and
strategies; to assess progress on implementing the MDGs in the region; to discuss the
constraints, challenges, prospects and way forward for achieving the MDGs in the
region; to provide the participants with an opportunity to share experiences, best
practices and propose policies and programs to achieve these goals with the help of
development partners; to suggest different ways and means for reaching national and
regional targets for meeting the MDGs; and, to assess the public sector resources and
needs for developing a global partnership for achieving the targets as per commitment of
the 8th Goal of the MDGs.
The training consisted of a series of thematic and group sessions. The course was
interactive and participatory in discussing concepts and sharing of ideas. Experts from
the SAARC Member States were invited to make presentations on various aspects and
discussion during the sessions took the agenda forward. The resource persons explained
themes and highlighted the connections, theories and practices related to HRD and the
MDGs. The participants were divided into three working groups for in-depth discussion
on specific topics. They prepared group reports and presented their findings and
recommendations in the final session of the training course.
At the end of the training course, Dr. Rffiat Aysha Anis, Director SHRDC distributed
certificates among the training participants. Feedback received from the participants
indicated the training course a great success as the participants gained first hand
information about the status and progress on implementation and prospects of the
MDGs in the region. They found the contents of the training course highly relevant and
the course greatly assisted in improving their capacities to integrate the MDGs-based
strategies into national development plan of their respective countries and raising
awareness about their roles and responsibilities to achieve the MDGs in the region.
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