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SDF was established by heads of all eight SAARC member states during 16th SAARC summit at Thimphu, Bhutan in April 2010.
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Its Governing Council comprises finance ministers of these eight countries.
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It is successor of South Asian Development Fund (SADF), which was launched in 1996 by merging two existing facilities called SAARC Fund for Regional Projects (SFRP) and SAARC Regional Fund.
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SDF’s Secretariat is located at Thimphu, capital of Bhutan
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SDF was created as umbrella financial mechanism for all SAARC developmental projects and programmes.
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Its core objectives are to promote welfare of the people of SAARC region, improve their quality of life and accelerate economic growth, social progress and poverty alleviation in the region.
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It funds projects in South Asia region via three windows viz. Social Window, Economic Window and Infrastructure Window.
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At present, only Social Window is in operation, the other two windows are yet to open.
