Commend Indian government, NITI Aayog for remarkable degree to which SDGs have being localised in India: UN Deputy SG Amina Mohammed

UN Deputy chief Amina Mohammed commended the Indian government and NITI Aayog for the "remarkable degree" to which the Sustainable Development Goals have been localized in the country, saying that "as India leads and achieves'' towards sustainable development, the region, and the world will as well.

Beginning her remarks with a "Namaste", the top UN official on Wednesday noted that the SDGs recognize that the world is interlinked to an unprecedented degree.

"The level to which this message of interconnectedness has been embraced in India, from the Center and the States down to the district and individual household level is truly impressive.'' "I commend the government of India and NITI Aayog for the remarkable degree to which the SDGs have been localized. Indicators and targets are embedded into planning, budgeting, and monitoring frameworks at all levels of government. The achievement of the SDGs will require multiple level government systems and policies that consider local realities and the role of local actors," UN Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed said.

She said at a special India side session at the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on 'Indian model of SDG Localisation: Towards a full implementation of the 2030 Agenda.' "That is why the United Nations is further strengthening its support to local action and local leadership through the Local 2030 coalition - the UN-wide initiative on localizing the SDGs within the Decade of Action. The coalition provides the opportunity to bring lessons for the world of the Indian model that we are sharing here today." She added ''We across the UN system are proud, committed partners of India along this journey to help chart the course because as India leads and achieves towards sustainable development, inclusive green recovery, the region, and the world will as well." The event Wednesday, organized by NITI Aayog, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India, and UN in India, was also addressed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Suman Bery, Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of UNDP Usha Rao-Monari, UN Resident Coordinator in India Shombi Sharp and Resident Representative, UNDP India Shoko Noda.

Mohammed said that the world today is in turmoil facing multiple and overlapping crises from which no country and community is immune.

"The pandemic and war come against the backdrop of the greatest existential threat of all - climate change. And cities, local governments, and communities have been and still are at the center of the emergencies we face," she said.

Rao-Monari said that NITI Aayog's efforts to localize the SDGs have made the SDGs the common language that fosters collaboration and cooperation across stakeholders. She said India's "focussed efforts over the last six years have resulted in tangible and evidenced outcomes that frankly are staggering," as she cited the figure of 331 million people with improved access to sanitation.

UNDP is "extremely pleased" to see India has made a policy choice to put the spotlight on the institutionalization of the SDGs - "not to look at sustainable development as a standalone or parallel framework, but really to make them an integral part of the national thinking about development.

"India has chosen to do this not just at the national level but as I understand it, at the state and local levels also, making SDGs critical and crucial in people's lives," she said adding that from UNDP's perspective as a global organization, "India's example in this mobilization is important not only because of the size but also because of the innovations and advances forged on sustainable development." She added that India's experience demonstrates that a successful localization effort needs to be anchored in the principles of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach - partnerships, robust data systems, and financing availability at the local level. "UNDP is proud of its long-standing partnership with NITI Aayog and welcomes its pioneering work in pushing the boundaries of data-driven decision-making by developing indices to track the progress of the SDGs," Rao-Monari said.

She underlined that UNDP has been a partner with the Government of India at the national, state, and local levels to move ahead on the SDGs. ''We are supporting data-driven decision-making, working with partners on the computation of indices that enable progress-tracking on SDGs at the sub-national level, including on multi-dimensional poverty.

She stressed that today, especially in India, "we must leverage government funding" to bring in other partners and other actors.

"It's really important to remember the importance of business and private sector alongside other stakeholders as a partner in India's vision for 2030 and transition from a whole-of-government to a whole-of-society approach to meet the SDG challenge," she said.

Noting that India's last budget established the government's intent to issue India's first sovereign green bond, which is actually "remarkable", she said that she is pleased to share that over the last two years, UNDP has been supporting the task force on sustainable finance, working closely with the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog.

"UNDP remains committed to working closely with the government, UN team, and other partners. We aim to expand learning from these partnerships to inspire efforts to do development in ways that transform global commitments into green inclusive and equitable actions within India and around the world, using India as an example," she said.