The UN Under-Secretary-General and UNDP Associate Administrator, Usha Rao-Monari, was on her first official visit to India since assuming the role. The three-day mission (30 Nov - 2 Dec) was packed with meetings with the government, development partners, private sector, media and young people. She was accompanied by Walid Badawi, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, UNDP.
“As India takes on a leadership role – with G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and in South-South Cooperation, I'm here to see how UNDP in India can support the country in achieving its goals in sustainability, climate action, resilience, social inclusion, and institutional and governance strengthening,” said Rao-Monari.
During her visit, discussions covered various topics, including the need to accelerate Sustainable Development Goals financing, including the use of blended finance instruments, India’s leading role in Digital Public Goods, the COP27 outcome roadmap, and the G20 Presidency. These discussions reinforced UNDP as a partner of choice in India's development agenda.
During her mission, the Associate Administrator held meetings with key government counterparts. This included Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs; Bhupendra Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change; Arjun Munda, Minister of Tribal Affairs.
In a meeting with the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupinder Yadav, the Associate Administrator discussed UNDP's support to the ministry in operationalising the key outcomes and priorities from COP27, including Mission LiFE.
UNDP Associate Administrator Usha Rao-Monari and Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda discussed initiatives and opportunities for tribal development in India. UNDP continues to support the ministry and state governments to empower India's tribal communities.
Rao-Monari met Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri to discuss India’s circular economy and clean energy transition and pathways for urban development.
The Associate Administrator met NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Suman Bery, and NITI Aayog CEO, Parameswaran Iyer. During the discussions, she emphasised the importance of the UNDP-NITI Aayog partnership on SDG localisation. She also highlighted how India's experience with the SDGs is unique and can be replicated across the region.
She called upon Mr Ajay Seth, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Mr Sanjay Verma, Secretary West, Ministry of External Affairs to discuss UNDP's support to the government of India's development agenda, and to India’s global leadership aspirations, in South-South cooperation and the Sustainable Development Goals.
"In my meetings with the government, I realised how important global development is to India, in addition to the development of its country and people. It is remarkable that India is coming up with partnerships, models and analytics on how India and the world can accelerate progress on sustainable and people-centric development."
At a roundtable on Capacity Building for Sustainable and Climate Finance, the Associate Administrator spoke of how climate change has emerged as a global risk for financial systems and called for greater investments in building capacities to assess and manage climate risks.
The Associate Administrator also led a discussion on Digital Public Goods, where she highlighted how Digital Public Infrastructure systems are enabling meaningful delivery of services across the country.
Associate Administrator, Usha Rao-Monari met J.S Deepak, Group Director, International Strategy and Public Policy to discuss the importance of telecommunication in achieving the SDGs by enhancing access to social and development services.
She also led an engaging discussion with UN Volunteers on the role young people are playing in transforming our world and achieving the SDGs.
The Associate Administrator visited a UNDP-supported Swachhta Kendra or a Material Recovery Facility, which manages roughly 2,000 metric tonnes of plastic and dry waste annually. At the facility, she met safai saathis or waste pickers – who are the backbone of the waste management system – and distributed Jan Dhan bank account kits to promote financial inclusion and ensure access to financial services.
At the facility, she was joined by our partners from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, HDFC bank and Trashonomy.
Her visit was covered extensively by national media. She was interviewed by leading newspapers, magazines and television channels, including a prime-time live interview by CNBC-TV18, an exclusive interview with Doordarshan, Business Today, Economic Times and Financial Express.
The Associate Administrator ended her visit with colleagues from the India Country Office.
Credits:
UNDP India/Deepak Malik