NITI Aayog and UNICEF India have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on children. Reiterating a mutual commitment towards realising the rights of children in India, the SoI seeks to formalise a framework of cooperation to develop and launch the first report on the ‘State of India’s Children: Status and Trends in Multidimensional Child Development.’

UNICEF India and NITI Aayog are developing a comprehensive measure to understand the multidimensional attainments and deprivations among children across health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation, household living standards and protective environment, to analyse the status of children around critical child-related SDGs to establish recent trends. This effort will contribute to the realisation of India’s commitments to the 2030 Agenda and provide a set of policy recommendations for concerted action in terms of accelerating progress towards the SDGs to ‘leave no child behind’ and achieve their holistic development.

The collaboration between NITI Aayog and UNICEF India will draw up the methods, technical analysis, reporting and action planning for the first report on the ‘State of India’s Children’ with a focus on multidimensional aspects of child development like health, nutrition, education, water and sanitation, protection and other relevant areas. This project will undertake a whole-of-society approach involving all stakeholders ranging from Union Ministries, state government, academia, civil society organisations and child rights collectives.