On 22nd August, 2023, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) and UNDP, in the presence of Minister of State for Ministry of DoNER and Ministry of Cooperation, Shri B.L.Verma and UN Assistant Secretary-General & Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA), Ms Ulrika Modéer, entered into an MoU wherein UNDP would provide MDoNER with technical support on fast-tracking progress on the SDGs; monitoring, evaluation and capacity building; support Aspirational districts and blocks; support in the deployment of emerging technologies in governance and in scaling up good practices.
Minister of State, MDoNER, Shri B.L. Verma addressed the delegates and said, Prime Ministers’ main focus is development of Social and Infrastructure connectivity in NER and hope UNDP will help the Ministry in achieving this goal. He also said, “The Ministry of DoNER has taken remarkable strides across critical sectors such as infrastructure, connectivity, health, education, climate change and economic growth to transform the lives of the people in the region. In this journey, UNDP has been our key partner in promoting data-driven decision-making, especially through the North East Region District SDG Index”
MoS also stated that the NER District SDG Index helped in forming the flagship PM-DevINE scheme, which provides infrastructure and social development funding to boost livelihood opportunities in the region, especially for women and youth.
Ms. Ulrika Modéer appreciated the Government of India’s efforts towards fast-tracking the development of the North Eastern Region. She said, “UNDP is privileged to sign this MoU with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. We are committed to supporting national and sub national efforts to accelerate progress on the goals by providing technical support on SDG localization and improved capacities towards implementation and monitoring of programmes.”