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Regional cooperation among ODL institutions is proposed as a pathway for educational diplomacy that strengthens trust, workforce development, and SDG achievement across South Asia.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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\n[http://www](http://www.AsianJDE.org)[.](http://www.AsianJDE.org)[AsianJDE](http://www.AsianJDE.org)[.](http://www.AsianJDE.org)[org](http://www.AsianJDE.org)  \n© 2018 The Asian Society of Open and Distance Education ISSN 1347-9008 Asian J D E 2018 vol 13, no 1, pp 5-22  \nOpportunities for Educational Diplomacy in South Asia  \nUmesh Chandra PANDEY  \nIndira Gandhi National Open University, Regional Evaluation Centre, Bhopal, India  \n[ucpandey@ignou.ac.in](ucpandey@ignou.ac.in)  \nABSTRACT :  \nThe South Asia is at the focus of Post 2015 developmental agenda primarily because of the largest concentration of poor population. Though the region is growing at the rate of 6 % during past 20 years the inequalities are on rise. It is a major impediment in the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) . The glaring socioeconomically inequalities in the region call for major educational interventions in the region. Open and Distance Learning systems (ODL) have emerged as a viable option due to its potential to smooth out inequalities.  \nHowever the growth of these systems has been largely uneven in the region. Whereas some of the countries have been able to develop world class capabilities to design and deliver such programmes, the smaller countries have little policy level sensitization on these matters. The Quality, Scope and Diversity of these programmes make them ideal option for Educational Diplomacy. Regional Cooperation based on ODL can help the South Asia to achieve SDGs. Such soft diplomatic initiatives will build “People to People Contacts”, create workforce to Strengthen Trade, develop Mutual Appreciation and Trust in South Asian Communities. Further it will counter the hard diplomatic interventions of developed countries and balance the geopolitical environment of the South Asian region. This article evolves a perspective for networking of ODL institutions for meeting the emerging developmental needs and describes the issues which come across such a networking.  \nKeywords: Open and Distance Learning (ODL) , Educational Diplomacy, Satellite, Sustainable Development Goals, SAARC, South Asia, Space Diplomacy  \nINTRODUCTION :  \nWith one fourth of world population and 36 percent of world’s poor, South Asian Region is plagued by major developmental gaps, barriers and bottlenecks (UN-ESCAP, 2017) . Despite striking complementarities and similarities the region is least integrated in the world and the enormous potential for Regional Cooperation is largely unutilized (World Bank, 2017) . With 614 million people (approx 37% of the population) under the age of 18, South Asia is the most youthful part of the world and education is on the forefront of developmental agenda (The Economist, 2013) .  \nHowever the region suffers from a weak Human Resource base which seriously jeopardizes its developmental initiatives and slows down its economic growth. The low expenditure for Human Development and increasing expenditures for militarization due to volatile geopolitical environment of the region perpetuates such a condition of the sub region. The inequalities in the region are getting more and more striking which pose a major impediment for the implementation of post 2015 development agenda (Kanbur et al, 2014) .  \nASIAN JOURNAL of DISTANCE EDUCATION  \nSouth Asia performs poorly in terms of opportunity which affects the overall socioeconomic scenario of the region (Rama et al, 2015) . There has been a major apprehension across the world that rising inequalities in South Asia can potentially affect the pursuit for Sustainable Development Goals. The economical deprivations largely stem from their poor capacities, geographical remoteness and poor infrastructure in such areas. It has prevented the people to productively participate in the economic growth of the region which implies that the global achievement of the SDGs will not be possible without South Asia achieving them (UN-ESCAP, 2017) . It is diffi","cbCaigTOfiK3jJZB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigTOfiK3jJZB","pdf",288142,18,"English","# Introduction\n# The Context for Regional Cooperation\n## Educational issues and shared conditions\n# ODL as a vehicle for educational diplomacy\n## Reducing inequalities and enabling SDG progress\n# Networking ODL institutions and way forward","[{\"question\":\"Why is South Asia considered a focus of the post-2015 development agenda?\",\"answer\":\"Because it has the largest concentration of poor populations and faces rising socioeconomically inequalities that impede progress toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article describe Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in relation to SDGs?\",\"answer\":\"ODL systems are described as a flexible and viable option that can smooth out inequalities and support educational interventions required to realize SDGs.\"},{\"question\":\"What challenges does the article identify for regional ODL development in South Asia?\",\"answer\":\"ODL growth is described as largely uneven, with some countries building strong capabilities while smaller countries have limited policy-level sensitization and insufficient exploration of these options.\"}]","Opportunities for Educational Diplomacy in South Asia | PDF",1792076374,45]