Government think-tank NITI Aayog and UNICEF India on Thursday joined hands to work towards achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals related to children in the country.
NITI Aayog and UNICEF India signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on children, according to an official statement.
The SoI was signed by NITI Aayog's nodal officer-SDGs Sanyukta Samaddar and UNICEF India chief of social policy Hyun Hee Ban in the presence of NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar.
To achieve the child development priorities under the SDGs, UNICEF India and NITI Aayog are developing a comprehensive measure to understand the multi-dimensional attainments and deprivations among children across health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation and household living standards, the statement said.
Kumar said this child-focused SDG initiative builds on India's effort of monitoring progress through the SDG India Index and Dashboard which continues to be a unique data-driven initiative for triggering policy action.
This new initiative with UNICEF is built on the ethos of SDG attainments for children and ensuring that no child is left behind, he added.
The collaboration between NITI Aayog and UNICEF India will draw up the methods, technical analysis, reporting, and action planning for the first report on the 'Status of India's Children' with a focus on the multi-dimensional aspects of child development like health, education, nutrition, protection, and other relevant areas, the statement added.