NITI Aayog, UNICEF sign pact on SDGs focusing on children

Context – NITI Aayog and UNICEF India are developing a comprehensive measure to understand the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children.

Government think tank NITI Aayog and UNICEF India signed a statement of intent (SoI) on sustainable development goals (SDGs) with a focus on children.

Key Developments

• NITI Aayog and UNICEF India are developing a comprehensive measure to understand the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children with the aim of analyzing the status of children around critical child-related sustainable development goals. 
• This effort will contribute to the realization of India’s commitments on the 2030 Agenda and provide a set of policy recommendations for concerted action in terms of accelerating progress towards the SDGs to ‘leave no child behind’ and achieving their holistic development. 
• The child-centric SDG initiative builds on India’s effort to monitor  progress through the SDG India Index and Dashboard which continues to be a unique data-driven initiative for triggering policy action.  
• The partnership between NITI Aayog and UNICEF India will draw up the methods, technical analysis, reporting, and action planning for the first report on the ‘Status of India’s Children’ with a focus on the multi-dimensional aspects of child development like health, education, nutrition, protection, and other relevant areas.

About UNICEF

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

• UNICEF was created in 1946 as International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by the UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II. 
• It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. 
• UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989. It was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965 for “promotion of brotherhood among the nations”. 
• It is headquartered in New York.

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