India-UN Development Fund setting new benchmarks

@patkaushal

South-South peace diplomacy is getting the right impetus after India’s push for cooperation over conflict, coexistence over convictions, sharing over receiving, and plurality over hegemony.

Speaking at the 5th-anniversary of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund in New York, V Muraleedharan, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs (MEA), lauded the fund’s success as “collective, collaborative efforts setting new benchmarks for South-South cooperation.”

“India-UN Development Partnership Fund was established in 2017. The $ 150 million fund is supported and led by India and implemented in collaboration with the United Nations system. The fund supports Southern-owned and led, demand-driven and transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world, with a focus on least developed countries and small Island developing States,” a statement from the MEA said.

In his interaction with the delegates attending the 5th-anniversary commemoration of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, Muraleedharan said: “Over the years India’s development partnership has evolved organically to become a complete and comprehensive framework touching upon the full spectrum of human endeavour.”

“In the past five years, the fund and the footprint of its activities have grown by leaps and bounds. Today, India and the UN in their collective collaborative efforts through these funds are setting new benchmarks for South-South cooperation. India has prioritised cooperation over conflict, coexistence over convictions, sharing over receiving, plurality over hegemony,” news agency ANI reported the Indian minister as saying.

The efforts of the fund, according to him, has reflected India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the World is One Family.

The UN Office for South-South cooperation has lauded the fund as “a notable example of South-South cooperation with the system. Its thematic reach spans all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), with several initiatives addressing more than one goal. The fund has a strong focus on many of the global issues of the day and their special impact on developing countries. These include climate resilience, environmental sustainability, renewable energy, gender equality, health and pandemic response, education and skills, livelihoods, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and agricultural development.”

As per its promise to the fund, India has committed $150 million over ten years to the India-UN Fund, including $50 million under a separate Commonwealth Window, $14 million dedicated to countries of the Caribbean Community, and $12 million for small Island developing States.