The Head of the States and governments of the SAARC Member Countries emphasized the need to progressively carry out the SAARC activities with a broad framework of a long term perspective and to harmonize their effects to ensure tangible benefits to the people of the SAARC region. Toward this end they recognized that Human Resou4ce Development (HRD) is one of the means of realizing the SAARC objectives. At the Fourth SAARC Summit on 29-31 December 1988, the Heads of the States and Governments of the Member Countries agreed to establish SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) in Islamabad, Pakistan with the objective to develop knowledge and skills by undertaking research, imparting training, disseminating information on HRD issues and advise the Member States on HRD related policies and strategies.
The Twelfth SAARC Summit held in Islamabad on 4-6 January 2004, while recognizing the importance of HRD, expressed in the “Islamabad Declaration” that “Investment in human resource is critical for future development of South Asia. It is, therefore, essential to establish a Network of Centres of Higher Learning, Training and Skill development Institutes (SDI) across South Asia. In this context, the role of the SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) is important”.
To strengthen the HRD activities, the Thirty-Fourth Session of the Standing Committee held in New Delhi on 5-6 December 2007 shifted the mandate of Technical Committee on Human Resource Development (TCHRD) relating to education and skills development to SAARC Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC).
