The initiative reflects India’s continuing efforts to strengthen its development partnership with the Global South
India and the United Nations (UN) launched a Global Capacity Building Initiative on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday (September 23, 2023).
 
The initiative was announced at an event titled ‘India-UN for the Global South-Delivering for Development’ in the presence of India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and President of the 78th UN General Assembly Dennis Francis.
 
Importance of the India-UN Capacity Building Initiative for the Global South
 
1. Global South is a term used collectively for a large number of countries, mostly those in Africa, Latin-America and many parts of Asia, whose economies are relatively less developed.
 
2. In addition to bearing the consequences of structural inequities and historical burdens, the Global South has also been suffering from the devastating effects of Covid-19, EAM Jaishankar said during the event.   
 
3. The India-UN Capacity Building Initiative aims to share India’s development experiences, best practices and expertise with partner countries in the Global South through capacity building and training programs, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York stated.
 
4. As part of this initiative, the UN India team and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will partner to leverage India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) platform to share India’s development experiences and best practices across the world. A Joint Declaration of Intent to this effect was exchanged between the UN Resident Coordinator in India and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
5. This Initiative will operationalise the development-relevant deliverables of India’s G20 Presidency, including the G20 Action Plan for Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), technological transformation and building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), among others. 
 
6. The initiative will be a significant contribution to global efforts towards accelerating momentum for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by strengthening South-South Cooperation and reflects India’s continuing efforts to strengthen its development partnership with the Global South, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York stated. 
 
7. It is noteworthy that this initiative carries forward the successful G20 Presidency of India which saw inclusion of the voice of Global South into the G20 agenda and entry of the African Union into the grouping. 

8. It may be recalled that in a unique initiative, India hosted the 'Voice of Global South Summit' in January 2023. This special virtual Summit under the theme 'Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose' brought together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform.

9. The India-UN Capacity Building Initiative builds upon the extensive cooperation in development and capacity building that India already has bilaterally with the partner countries.
 
10. The India-UN initiative also complements the India-UN partnership in the form of India-UN Development Partnership Fund which has developed a portfolio of 75 development projects in 61 countries in the last 6 years, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York added.