UNDP to work with NITI Aayog on sustainable development

New Delhi: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will work with think tank NITI Aayog on sustainable development, said Kanni Wignaraja, assistant secretary-general and head of Asia-Pacific for the UNDP.

The UN agency will also collaborate with the Indian government to support the scaling up of institutional establishments meant to fast-track sustainable development, Wignaraja said.

UNDP will provide technical support to NITI Aayog to come up with the third voluntary national review (VNR). This was decided during Wignaraja’s India visit between 3 and 8 October, when she met top-level Indian government officials, including Suman Bery, vice chairperson of Niti Aayog.

The technical support will include data analysis, facilitating engagement with citizen groups and civil society organisations, supporting outreach, and assisting in follow-ups on the review’s recommendations.

Voluntary national review is a process through which countries assess and present national progress made in implementing the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development that’s been adopted by UN member nations.

As a signatory to the 2030 Agenda, which includes sustainable development goals, India is committed to participating regularly in the international review of the progress of SDGs.

India, home to one-sixth of all humanity, is crucial to the success of the 2030 Agenda. Based on evidence from the SDG India Index, which measures progress at the subnational level, the country has developed a robust SDG localisation model at the state and district levels.

Furthermore, to realise the 2030 Agenda, India supports developing countries through the $150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund.

UNDP also plans to support state governments in India in setting up more SDG coordination and acceleration centres to address implementation gaps, Wignaraja said.

UNDP, in collaboration with state governments, has supported SDG coordination and acceleration centres in 10 states and union territories—Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram.

“Renewables, technology—these are new areas where there is a bump and where you can find well-paid quality jobs. The question then is in the older traditional sectors… If I take agriculture in India, there is a net gain. Is that at the level of good pay, quality jobs? And if it isn’t, how does one make that also (of good pay and quality)? Is it by modernizing agriculture?,” Wignaraja said.

“If you look at women’s labour force participation, it’s less in manufacturing. From a large absorption in agriculture, (India has) almost done a leapfrog to the service tertiary sector, leaving behind a gap in manufacturing. In some areas, there is almost a return to saying, where we can grow the manufacturing sector that can absorb new labour, particularly to incentivize women’s labour force participation,” she added.

This comes in the backdrop of India’s economic growth has been increasingly driven by the services sector in the past two decades, particularly in information technology, banking, and finance. The manufacturing sector’s share in both output and employment is 16-17%, lower than the government’s targeted 25%.

According to the Economic Survey 2023-24, India must create 7.85 million jobs annually in the non-farm sector to accommodate the growing workforce. However, job creation remains a challenge. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy recently reported that the national unemployment rate had surged to about 9% in June from 7% in the month prior.