“It becomes the responsibility of all the State Governments, knowledge partners and international agencies to support the Panchayats for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals”, said Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj while addressing the gathering of representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, representatives of UNICEF, UNFPA, senior officers of the Central Government and State Governments and other stakeholders, while inaugurating the National Conference on Localization of SDGs on Child Friendly Village and Women Friendly Village. The weeklong ‘Iconic Week’ celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav under the aegis of Ministry of Panchayati Raj entered the third day today. Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj chaired the inaugural session in the presence of the other dignitaries UNICEF India Representative Mr. Yasumasa Kimura, Chief of Social Policy of UNICEF India Ms. Hyun Hee Ban, Program Management Specialist of UNFPA India Smt. Anuja Gulati, and Smt. Jayashree Raghunandan, Additional Chief Secretary/DG (RD&PR) Training, Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri (Dr.) Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, MoPR and Smt. Rekha Yadav Joint Secretary, MoPR. A large number of elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats from across the country attended the National Conference.
In his keynote address, Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj emphasised on bringing together all the Ministries and UN Agencies to take forward the Mission of attaining Sustainable Development Goals through strengthening the Panchayats. He also pointed that these Goals should be reached within a definite period of time and also to ensure the effective delivery of services to the Citizens through Panchayats. He also focused on the monitoring & implementation mechanism of the process of Localization through Dashboard to ensure attainment of thematic approaches of SDGs at village level.
Mr. Yasumasa Kimura, Country Head, UNICEF in his address stated that the focus is on Gender Transformative Programme working at Decentralised level and forming on System Strengthening. He also said that he was honoured to be a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Smt. Jayashree Raghunandan, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu emphasised on pressing need and urgency for Localisation of SDGs in PRIs through 9 thematic approaches. She also described detailed outline on the role of Panchayats in each thematic area through convergent actions of the relevant stakeholders.
Smt. Anuja Gulati, Programme Manager, UNFPA highlighted to attain the women friendly Village, women security, family planning, equal participation in the Rural Governance.
Ms. Hyun Hee Ban, Chief Policy and M&E, UNICEF India gave her insights on Child Friendly Villages. UNICEF wants to support the government for implementing Bal Panchayats and ensure child participation at the local governance level. She also discussed about the objectives of UNICEF that it shares its vision with Constitution of India which guarantee to give fundamental right to all its citizen like Right to education. She also stated that a Local Indicator Frameworks for every village based on their localised Gram Panchayats need to be prepared and to prioritize funding for critical sectors to children.
Shri Navendra Singh, Director, Ministry of Women and Child Development briefed on different flagship schemes of the Ministry and steps of the Ministry to localize the theme of Child friendly in the Village.
Sarpanch(es) of child-friendly Gram Panchayats from the States of Assam Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra shared the work done by them at the Gram Panchayat Level and importance of child representation at local governance level. With the session it was evident that their understanding on child rights has helped them in initiating changes at their villages.
Dr. Umakanth Dash, Director Institute of Rural Management Anand, IRMA focused on improvement in health services delivery to ensure Child Friendly panchayats through the use of different innovative models of technology in the arena of health.
Elected representatives from the States of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh shared their experience in making their Gram Panchayats women friendly and child friendly village.
Highlights:
- Singing of the Joint Statements of Understanding with UNICEF India and UNFPA for taking forward the themes of Child Friendly Villages and Women Friendly Villages respectively.
Release of Compendium of Best Practices on “Child Friendly” initiatives by UNICEF and Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
·Release of ToT Module, Brochure on Gender based Laws and Posters on Gender Equality by UNFPA and Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Screening of short-films showcasing path-breaking initiatives of Child Friendly and Women Friendly Gram Panchayats
- Participation of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and other stakeholders in day-long deliberations and sharing of ideas, experiences and views.