Context

• Recently, NITI Aayog presented India’s second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020.
• The HLPF is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

India VNR 2020

• The India VNR 2020 report titled Decade of Action: Taking SDGs from Global to Local.
• India presented its VNR along with other second time presenters like Bangladesh, Georgia, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria and Uganda.
• India has achieved in reducing multidimensional poverty, providing food safety, ensuring education for all, universalizing access to electricity, clean cooking fuel and sanitation, while also operationalizing the world’s largest health insurance programme by covering 500 million citizens.
• The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in India. Apart from presenting a review of progress on the 17 SDGs, the report discusses at length the policy and enabling environment, India’s approach to localizing SDGs, and strengthening means of implementation.
• Leveraging science, technology and innovation for SDGs, and costing and financing of SDGs are the two levers of strengthening means of implementation which have been introduced this year.
• In line with the theme of Taking SDGs from Global to Local, the goal-wise account of progress on the SDGs has been appended with examples of a range of diverse good practices and success stories of interventions from the States, especially Aspirational Districts.
• NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national level.
• The India VNR 2020 represents NITI Aayog’s efforts in embodying the whole-of-society approach and its commitment towards localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Back to Basics

• The HLPF meets annually in July for eight days under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.
• The VNRs presented by Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
• The reviews are voluntary and state-led and are aimed at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned. The process of preparation of a country’s VNR provides a platform for partnerships, including through the participation of various relevant stakeholders.
• NITI Aayog prepared and presented India’s first VNR in 2017.