The Secretary General of SAARC, Dr. Sheelkant Sharma, in his official reporting at the Inaugural Session of the SAARC Summit said that SABAH is the first and most successful work on poverty alleviation undertaken by SAARC Development Fund. He described how thousand of women were already being impacted in their own countries and how the project is bringing together the women home-based workers in peace and co-operation within the SAARC region. During the Summit the SDF was formally launched in Bhutan.

Before the Summit there were a number of meetings of officials and then of Foreign Ministers. During these meetings too, the home-based workers were at a strategic location and had created a SEWA and SABAH atmosphere, with products displayed and women doing their work. The officials, mainly from the Foreign Ministries, and Finance and Commerce Ministries came to speak to the women from their own countries and were convinced about the genuineness of the work. Many of them wanted to come and visit SEWA. The Foreign Ministers were specially brought to the SABAH stall by the Secretary General of SAARC. The Bhutanese Foreign Minister was so impressed that he promised that the Heads of State would definitely visit SABAH stall, “I will bring them personally”, he said. The Indian, Sri Lankan and Bangladesh Foreign Minister promised all support, the Maldives Foreign Minister insisted SABAH start in Maldives very soon, and the Pakistani Minister came back a number of times to verify about SABAH and finally promised all help. The Nepal Minister wanted to visit SABAH Nepal and promised a big order. An official of SAARC said, “I wanted these policy-makers to see your work and meet the home-based workers, as seeing is very different from reading a report. But I did not expect such a positive reaction from them. They come to you and then when they return to the Convention hall they are smiling and bright! They discuss your project with such enthusiasm amongst themselves!”