New Delhi, NITI Aayog on Thursday said it has signed a statement of intent (SOI) with UNICEF India to support strategic healthcare interventions in Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks.
The objective of this agreement is to leverage the strengths of both institutions to advance efforts towards improving maternal and child nutrition outcomes in underserved areas.
“The partnership will support the promotion of multi-stakeholder engagement and strengthen implementation systems for nutrition and health interventions at the block level,” NITI Aayog said.
The pact was signed by Rohit Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme at NITI Aayog, and Arjan de Wagt, Deputy Representative at UNICEF India.
Kumar said partnerships with organisations such as UNICEF India would further strengthen efforts to address critical health and nutrition challenges and enhance last-mile service delivery in high-priority regions.
“The Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme has demonstrated the importance of convergence, collaboration and data-driven governance in accelerating development outcomes,” he added.
UNICEF India, via its platform ‘IMPAct4Nutrition’ (I4N), will provide technical expertise and support engagement with businesses, public sector enterprises and industry associations to channel corporate social responsibility (CSR) investments into nutrition-focused initiatives.
The agreement will focus on strengthening Anganwadi infrastructure, enhancing nutrition literacy, improving the uptake of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and building the capacity of frontline workers, the public policy body mentioned.
According to NITI Aayog, the partnership will also involve mobilising CSR partners to support health and nutrition interventions, promoting community engagement and facilitating knowledge-sharing platforms to identify and disseminate scalable best practices across Aspirational Districts and Blocks.
Earlier this week, NITI Aayog also signed a pact with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to enhance sustainable development in Aspirational Districts and Blocks.
The two sides signed the Record of Discussions for Phase II of the Project for Promotion of the Programme for Japan-India Cooperative Actions Towards Sustainable Development Goals.
