Counting Trust
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The first tranche of four projects under the aegis of the “India-UN Global Capacity Building Initiative” was launched by Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal, Ministry of External Affairs.
Heads of Missions of the participating countries, UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp, heads of various UN agencies in India, and senior MEA officials were present during the launch held on August 1.
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The initiative was originally announced in September 2023, on the margins of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in the presence of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
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Since then, the Ministry of External Affairs and the UN Country Team in India have jointly worked to identify and implement these projects to foster South-South cooperation and accelerate progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the MEA said in a statement on Saturday.
India has long been a pioneer in capacity-building efforts for the Global South. Its flagship programme, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scheme, offers more than 12,000 training slots annually to nearly 160 countries, covering over 400 specialized courses. Since its inception, the programme has trained more than 225,000 professionals.
The India-UN Global South Capacity Building Initiative is a natural extension of India’s expertise in technical and economic cooperation. By partnering with UN agencies, the initiative seeks to design demand-driven programmes that support human resource development through specialized training, contributing meaningfully to the achievement of the SDGs.
Under the initiative, the UN agency will assist the host government in identifying SDG-oriented projects and other components, while the training component will be delivered through the ITEC programme.
In the first phase, four projects have been selected for implementation – Rice Fortification and Supply Chain Management in Nepal, supported by the World Food Programme; Digital Health Platform for Zambia and Lao PDR, supported by UNDP; Census Preparedness in Belize, Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago, supported by the UN Population Fund; and Vocational Training Programme for South Sudan, supported by UNESCO.
Training institutes under the ITEC framework have been identified for these projects, and the courses are expected to commence in September 2025.
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