UN extols India’s G20 Presidency for promoting sustainable development goals

The UN has extolled India’s G20 Presidency for promoting a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly ending poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation.

Addressing the joint valedictory session of the 57th Capacity Building Programme of the Civil Servants of Bangladesh and Arunachal Pradesh, the UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp said, “In fact, India’s G-20 Presidency has become SDG-20 Presidency as India is raising strong voice to close financial gaps.”

Sharp pointed out that four emerging economies — Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa — will be holding the G20 Presidency in a consequent manner to raise the issues of developing countries and to become the voice of the Global South after a long gap.

He said India’s G20 leadership would be followed by SDG Summit in New York after two weeks in September this year, and that this handshake will be important for the mid-term review of the DDG-17 Goals.

It may be recalled that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were adopted as a part of the 2030 agenda by 192 United Nations member states in 2015. Some of these goals are no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure.

Sharp said the United Nations supports India’s Green Transition, as it has committed to net-zero carbon by 2070.

He further said digital transformation, low carbon economic model and women-led governance with gender equality and women empowerment are some of the key highlights of India’s high growth model.

Sharp underlined that the world is facing a number of overlapping crises like fuel, food and fertilizer and the poorest communities in the poorest countries, particularly in South Asia bear the brunt of such crisis the most.

He also said the delivery of assured and efficient services to the common and poor man is the essence and ethos of any service.

Bharat Lal, DG of, the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) in his address said that the ultimate goal of any Civil Service should be to bring change in the quality of life of the common man.

He urged the civil servants of Bangladesh and Arunachal Pradesh that if they will be able to implement some of the Skills or Best Practices learnt at the NCGG, it will bring key transformation in governance.

Lal emphasised the crucial role of civil servants in providing efficient public service delivery and highlighted the importance of creating an enabling environment for citizens to realize their potential by improving infrastructure, services and facilities.

The DG also urged officers to share their experiences and learnings, which could be further fine-tuned by other officers for the benefit of people and implemented in other areas.

Two capacity-building programmes for the civil servants of Bangladesh (57th batch with 40 participants) and Arunachal Pradesh (2nd batch with 29 participants) commenced at the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Mussoorie campus on 28th February came to an end today with distribution of Certificates to the participants.

NCGG organised joint sessions to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing. NCGG’s capacity-building initiatives for civil servants aim to promote good governance, enhance service delivery, and improve the quality of life of citizens by reaching the last person.