UNDP in India

It is always meaningful to reconnect with partners whose journey reflects the enduring impact of locally led development🌾🥛👭 Today, Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP in India, met Raja Rathinam, Managing Director of Swaayam Ksheer Producer Company (SKPCL), who visited to share the enterprise's journey as it marks 15 years of service to farming communities. Established in 2011, SKPCL emerged from the UNDP and IKEA Foundation's Swaayam initiative, bringing together 9,000 women dairy producers across 46 villages in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. By strengthening financial literacy, entrepreneurship and market access, the initiative helped lay the foundation for a community owned enterprise that continues to create livelihood opportunities for its members. While projects can help catalyse change, enduring impact depends on strong local institutions and community leadership. When communities build and own the institutions that serve them, they are better placed to sustain progress, respond to changing needs, and create opportunities for future generations. Dr. Lusigi appreciated SKPCL's continued efforts and encouraged the organization to further strengthen an economically viable and environmentally sustainable model that continues to benefit farming communities while contributing to sustainable rural development. #WomenEmpowerment #RuralDevelopment #InclusiveGrowth

🌅 Before most of the city wakes up, Savera is already protecting the planet. ♻️ For her, collecting recyclable waste is more than a livelihood. It's a daily commitment to keeping our cities clean, reducing pollution, and giving valuable materials a second life. Every day, thousands of Safai Mitras like Savera play a vital role in advancing the circular economy, recovering valuable resources and helping build cleaner, healthier, and more resilient communities. 👷🏽♀️🌱 Through Project Utthaan and NAMASTE, they are gaining greater access to social protection, welfare, and opportunities, enabling them to continue making a difference for both people and the planet. 🤝💚 Because #PlanetStartsWithPeople, and people like Savera are leading the way. #NatureTrailblazers #CircularEconomy

🌾 As climate risks intensify, farmers need more than recovery after disasters. They need systems that help them manage risk before it becomes a crisis. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India and with technical support of UNDP in India, is helping farmers gain access to timely crop insurance so that they can recover when disasters strike. As the world's largest crop insurance scheme by farmer enrolment, PMFBY is protecting more than 41 million farmers across 62 million hectares of farmland.  India's experience shows how central and state government support, private insurer participation, digital platforms and advanced technologies can expand financial protection for farmers across diverse crops, seasons and regions. 📘 Featured in UNDP's global report Government Pathways to Transform Agricultural Insurance Systems, this India case study explores the policies, institutions and investments that have helped scale crop insurance to the last mile, offering practical lessons for strengthening resilience to climate and production risks. 📖 Read the India case study here : https://shorturl.at/swfrR 📘 Explore the full report: https://shorturl.at/VqixN UNDP Sustainable Finance #FinancialResilience

📞 14473. One call can connect Safai Mitras to government welfare schemes and social protection. 🛡️ Access to the right information can make all the difference. Every #SafaiMitra deserves the support they are entitled to. 👷🏻♀️👷🏽 The #NAMASTEHelpline helps Safai Mitras access guidance on government welfare schemes, making it easier to connect with essential services and benefits. 🤝 Together, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, GOI and UNDP in India are working to ensure those who keep our cities clean have better access to support, dignity, and opportunities, advancing #LeaveNoOneBehind. Know a Safai Mitra? Share the NAMASTE Helpline (14473) today. #NAMASTE #PlasticFreeJuly #SafaiMitra #SocialProtection #InclusiveDevelopment

🐯 Every tiger story is also a story of people and landscapes. On #GlobalTigerDay, we're spotlighting PEACE+ (Partnership for Ecological Advancement and Conservation of Endangered Big Cats in India), a new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) project in development. Led by the MoEF&CC, in partnership with the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and UNDP in India , the project takes a landscape-based approach to conserving two of India's most iconic big cats. 🏔️ In Ladakh, it will support the conservation of the snow leopard across its high-altitude habitat. 🌲 In Uttarakhand, it will focus on the Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, home to nearly 560 tigers (the third highest tiger population of any Indian state) and one of India's most important wildlife corridors, connecting the Indian Terai with Nepal's foothill forests. 🌱 At the heart of PEACE+ is a simple idea: conservation is strongest when local communities are part of the solution. 📸credits: Nirmalya Chakraborty and Shivang Mehta Global Environment Facility Forest Department, Govt. of Uttarakhand #GlobalTigerDay #Biodiversity

💉 What if the biggest barriers to childhood immunization are not awareness, but the realities families face every day? This new blog by Dr.Anjori Agrawal, Project Specialist, and Sneha Pathak, Gender Analyst, UNDP in India, explores why immunization requires us to look beyond information campaigns and understand the social, gender and economic dynamics that shape vaccination decisions. Drawing on insights from the Community of Practice on Demand (CoP-D), an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare supported by UNDP in India, UNICEF India, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and other partners, the blog highlights how household decision making, gender roles, wage loss, misinformation and trust all influence whether a child receives lifesaving vaccines. The authors argue that strengthening routine immunization requires: 👨👩👧 Engaging entire families, not just mothers. 🤝 Supporting frontline workers beyond awareness messaging. 📍 Addressing practical barriers such as transport, time and lost wages. 💙 Building shared responsibility for every child's immunisation journey. 🔗Read more: https://shorturl.at/kTa1I #Immunization #PublicHealth 

👥 🏙️ In Tiruchirappalli, citizen voices are shaping the future of urban governance. With UNDP in India's support, the Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation is building a Social Innovation Platform (SIP) that strengthens the way the city listens, responds and delivers services to its residents. The journey began not with technology, but with people. Through a Deep Listening Programme, people shared the everyday challenges they face.Those insights are now being translated into action through a Youth Hackathon, where young innovators are developing practical, tech-enabled solutions to real civic problems. During a recent visit to Trichy, Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP in India, and Meenakshi Kathel, Chief Advisor, SDG Acceleration Unit, met with the Municipal Commissioner to explore how stronger citizen engagement and grievance redressal systems can make local governance more responsive and accountable. In Ward 34, women from Self Help Groups highlighted the issues that matter most to their communities: 🚰 Reliable access to drinking water 🚻 Improved sanitation and sewage systems 🎒 Keeping children in school 🏠 Reducing the unpaid care burden that limits women's economic opportunities These conversations are already driving change. A new WhatsApp chatbot is being developed to help residents report civic concerns in real time while providing city authorities with valuable data to identify priorities, respond faster and improve services. This is what inclusive digital transformation looks like: citizens shaping solutions, technology amplifying community voices, and local governments acting on what they hear. Together, Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation, Tamil Nadu Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre (SDGCC)-UNDP , UNDP India are demonstrating how cities can turn participation into action and action into better outcomes for al #UrbanGovernance #SmartCities #SDGs

#WorldMangroveDay 🌿 What does it mean when a coastline gets a second chance? Along Andhra Pradesh's Krishna coast, the answer is taking root in the return of mangroves. For 68-year-old Lakshmi, this is deeply personal. She still remembers the devastating 1977 Diviseema cyclone, when the absence of mangroves left the coast exposed and allowed the sea to rush in. 🌊 Today, those same mangroves are being restored through the Enhancing Climate Resilience of India's Coastal Communities (ECRICC) Project, led by MoEF&CC, Government of India, with support from the Green Climate Fund, UNDP in India, and the Andhra Pradesh Environment and Forest Department So far, the project has: 🌱 Restored 694 hectares of degraded mangrove habitat within Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary 🛰️ Used satellite imagery and hydrological data to identify the best areas for restoration 🌊 Reopened tidal "fish bone" channels to restore the natural flow of seawater 🤝 Brought together forest officials, ecologists and local fishing communities to restore this vital ecosystem For Lakshmi and many others, the return of mangroves is more than an environmental success. It is helping rebuild a natural shield that protects lives, livelihoods and the coastline for generations to come. 📖 Read the full story: https://shorturl.at/GlZKx #ClimateAction 

📢 Call for Proposals | Undertaking a Diagnostics Study on 'Ease of Justice' in India UNDP in India is inviting proposals from qualified organizations to undertake a nationwide diagnostics study on understanding 'Ease of Justice' in India, in collaboration with the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice. The study will help identify practical pathways to make justice delivery more efficient, accessible and inclusive. We're looking for organizations with experience in: ⚖️ Justice systems, governance and legal policy 📊 Multi state quantitative and qualitative research 📑 Institutional diagnostics and evidence-based analysis 🤝 Working with governments, UN agencies and development partners ⏳ Duration: 8 months 🗓️ Application deadline: 7th Aug, 2026; 8 AM (New York time) 🔗 Apply here: https://shorturl.at/V9ehR

What happens when women don't just participate in urban mobility, but help redefine it? 🙋♀️🚖 In Chennai, 350+ women auto rickshaw drivers are doing exactly that through the Veera Pengal Munnetra Cooperative Society (VPMS), a powerful example of how collective action can create more inclusive livelihoods and cities. Supported by the State Planning Commission's SDG Coordination Centre (SDGCC), VPMS is a women led collective that is transforming urban mobility while creating safer, more sustainable livelihood opportunities. During a recent visit to Chennai, Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, and Meenakshi Kathel, Chief Advisor, SDG Acceleration Unit, UNDP in India, had the opportunity to meet members of the cooperative and hear directly about their journey, achievements and aspirations. ✨ Over the past three years, the SDGCC has supported VPMS by: 🔹 Formalizing a women led cooperative supporting 350+ women drivers. 🔹 Advancing the transition to electric vehicles, making transport cleaner while improving livelihoods. 🔹 Advocating for policies and public infrastructure that make urban mobility safer and more accessible for women. 🎬 The visit also included a screening of Auto Queens, a documentary created by the women themselves that tells their inspiring stories. The film has received wide international recognition. #GenderEquality #LeaveNoOneBehind #SustainableDevelopment