India and the United Nations have joined hands to introduce a groundbreaking initiative called the “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative,” designed to foster growth and development in the Global South. The primary goal of this initiative is to share India’s wealth of developmental knowledge, successful practices, and expertise with partner countries in the Global South through comprehensive capacity-building programs and training.
The announcement of this initiative took place during a special event titled “India-UN for the Global South-Delivering for Development” on September 23, 2023, in New York, in the presence of Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar.
Other attendees included Dennis Francis, President of the 78th General Assembly, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa, Dr Tandi Dorji, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bhutan, Dr Vince Henderson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade, and Energy of Dominica, Hugh Hilton Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Guyana, Maneesh Gobin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration, and International Trade of Mauritius, Alva Romanus Baptiste, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade, Civil Aviation, and Diaspora Affairs of St. Lucia, Ahmed Khaleel, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Maldives, Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, and Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Commissioner for India.
The “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” builds upon India’s existing extensive collaborations in development and capacity building with partner countries. It also complements the India-UN partnership through the “India-UN Development Partnership Fund,” which has successfully executed 75 development projects in 61 countries over the last six years.
Furthermore, this initiative will witness a collaboration between the UN India team and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leveraging India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation platform to disseminate its development insights and best practices worldwide. A Joint Declaration of Intent was formalized between the UN Resident Coordinator in India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to this effect.
Notably, this initiative will operationalize the development-focused objectives of India’s G20 Presidency, including the G20 Action Plan for Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and enhancing technological transformation, Digital Public Infrastructure, among others.
In essence, the “India-UN Capacity Building Initiative” stands as a remarkable contribution to global endeavors aimed at expediting progress towards achieving the SDGs, fortified by strengthened South-South Cooperation. It serves as a testament to India’s unwavering commitment to bolstering its developmental partnership with the Global South, building upon the successes of its G20 Presidency, which prominently amplified the voices of the Global South within the G20 and welcomed the African Union into this influential grouping.