Press Release No. 3

30 January 2012

Indian Minister of State for Rural Development to hand over the Presidency of the Conference of Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) to the Egyptian Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs

Hon’ble Minister of State of India for Rural Development, H.E. Miss Agatha Sangma is visiting Egypt to chair the 17th General Session of the Conference of AARDO being held in Cairo from 31st January – 2nd February, 2012.

During the current session, the Presidency of the organization will pass from India to Egypt.

Among the founder members of the organization, both Egypt and India have played a pioneering role and have been significantly contributing to the implementation of technical work programmes of AARDO since its very inception. In fact, Egypt will be holding the Presidency for the fourth time when the Organization holds its Golden Jubilee celebrations in India in March 2012.

The AARDO (earlier known as Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organization) was the product of consultations among social and political leaders of Asia and Africa who recognized the need for cooperation in the field of agriculture and rural development. An inter-governmental organization comprising governments of a large number of countries in Africa and Asia, AARDO is one of the earliest examples of South-South cooperation in rural development in the Afro-Asian region.

The visiting Minister from India, H.E. Miss Agatha Sangma was first elected to Lok Sabha (House of the People in India) in 2008.  On 29^th May, 2009, she was sworn in as the youngest Minister in the Union Council of Ministers of India at the age of 28.  The Hon’ble Minister holds Diplomas in various Branches of Law such as Cyber Laws, Corporate Laws, Human Rights Laws, Securities and Investment Laws.