Established in April 1997, the South Asia Commission on the Asian Challenge (SACAC) seeks to identify a new vision and a concrete policy framework for accelerating South Asia’s development in the 21^st century. In particular, the Commission aims to produce a book on The South Asian Challenge that will closely reflect upon the following key issues:

To review the progress made by South Asia in the last fifty years; to compare it with the experience of East Asia and other regions; and to identify the economic, social, and political challenges facing South Asia today.

• To define the place and role of South Asia within the global community of the twenty-first century.

• To design a new policy framework that enables South Asians to share more equitably the opportunities opening up at home and in a fast globalising world economy.
  

Report Outline:

The South Asian Challenge will be in three parts:  

•  An inspiring vision for the South Asian society for the twenty-first century;

• A candid review of the last fifty years of missed opportunities; and,

• A concrete road map of future actions so that South Asia emerges as the new economic frontier.
  

Organisation:

The Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre provides the professional secretariat for the SACAC.
 

Members:

SACAC consists of twenty leading scholars and policy makers from the South Asia region.

Founder
Mahbub ul Haq
Founder, Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Islamabad

 
Members
Sartaj Aziz
Former Finance Minister of Pakistan

Shahid Javed Burki
Former Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, The World Bank

Gamani Corea
Former Secretary General, UNCTAD

Lord Meghnad Desai
Director, Centre for Global Governance, London School of Economics

Khadija Haq
President, Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Islamabad

Parvez Hasan
Former Chief Economist, World Bank

Najma Heptullah
Former Deputy Speaker Rajya Sabha

Nurul Islam
Senior Adviser, International Food Policy Research Institute

Sisira Jayasuriya
Reader in Economics, La Trobe University, Australia

Abul Maal Muhith
Former Finance Minister of Bangladesh

Vina Mazumdar
President, Centre for Women's Development, New Delhi

Nafis Sadiq
Former Executive Director, UNFPA

Arjun Sengupta
Former Member, Planning Commission, India

Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India

Rehman Sobhan
Executive Chairman, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka

M. S. Swaminathan
Chairman, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, India

Bhekh Thapa
Former Finance Minister of Nepal

Mohammad Yunus
Chairman, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh