NITI Aayog presents India's 2nd Voluntary National Review at UN's High-Level Political Forum
Jul 13, 2020
New Delhi [India], July 13 : NITI Aayog presented India's second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020.
The HLPF is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, presented the VNR. The India VNR 2020 report titled 'Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local' was released by NITI Aayog officials -- Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Dr VK Paul, Member, Amitabh Kant, CEO, and Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser (SDGs).
At the HLPF this year, which is being hosted virtually in the aftermath of the COVID-19, 47 Member States are set to present their VNRs between July 10-16, 2020.
Under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN, the HLPF meets in July for eight days every year.
The VNRs presented by the Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of the progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
The process of preparation of a country's VNR provides a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of various relevant stakeholders. NITI Aayog prepared and presented India's first VNR in 2017.
India presented its VNR along with other second time presenters like Bangladesh, Georgia, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda.
In his opening remarks, Dr Kumar expressed his solidarity with all the countries which were grappling with challenges brought about by the pandemic, while highlighting the key features of India's response to the pandemic under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign.
"We should all obliterate all divisions and distinctions amongst us and come together to try and convert the prevailing situation into an opportunity for accelerating our progress towards achieving the SDG targets", said the Vice-Chairman in his statement.
India's VNR this year has undertaken a paradigm shift in terms of embodying a "whole-of-society" approach in letter and spirit. NITI Aayog engaged with sub-national and local governments, civil society organizations, local communities, people in vulnerable situations and the private sector.
As part of this process, NITI Aayog partnered with UN in India and Civil Society Organisations to curate a consultative process which saw more than 50 national and sub-national consultations with over 1000 CSOs from fourteen population groups including women, children, elderly, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), People Living with HIV (PLHIV), among others.
The India VNR 2020 report was also unveiled during this event. The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in India. Apart from presenting a review of progress on the 17 SDGs, the report discusses at length the policy and enabling environment, India's approach to localising SDGs and strengthening means of implementation.
In line with the theme of Taking SDGs from Global to Local, the goal-wise account of progress on the SDGs has been appended with examples of a range of diverse good practices and success stories of interventions from the States, especially Aspirational Districts.
