The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the constitution of a High Level Steering Committeefor periodically reviewing and refining the National Indicator Framework (NIF) for monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with associated targets.
The High Level Steering Committee will be chaired by Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), with the Secretaries of data source Ministriesand NITI Aayogas members and Secretaries of other related Ministries as special invitees, with function of reviewing of National Indicator Framework including refinement of the indicators from time to time.
Targets:
Major impact:
There is no direct financial implication on implementation of the National Indicator Framework. However, the respective Ministries will need to re-align and strengthen their data systemsto facilitate monitoring of the SDG indicators.
SDGs are expected to bring change in the lives of people and the monitoring of progress of implementation of SDGs will benefit the entire nation.
Background:
At the Millennium Summit held in 2000 at the UN Headquarters in New York, eight development goals known as the 'Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs) were adopted, which formed the blueprint for countries to pursue their national development strategies from 2000 to 2015. The MDGscomprised eight Goals and addressed various development issues. The MDGs targets were unevenly achieved across the countries and a need was felt to start fresh discussions to assess the usefulness of the MDGs and to explore possible successor to guide development cooperation in the world beyond 2015.
The UN General Assemblyin its 70thSession considered and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) for the next 15 years. The 17 SDGs came into force with effect from 1stJanuary, 2016.Though not legally binding, the SDGs have become de facto international obligations and have potential to reorient domestic spending priorities of the countries during the next fifteen years. Countries are expected to take ownership and establish a national framework for achieving these Goals. Implementation and success will rely on countries' own sustainable development policies, plans and programmes. Countries would be responsible for follow-up and review at the national level, with regard to the progress made in implementing the Goals and targets. Actions at the national level to monitor progress under SDGs will require quality, accessible and timely data.
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NW/AKT/SH