New Delhi: UNDP administrator Helen Clark on Saturday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and discussed a range of issues including implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and combating climate change. She also lauded India's role on the board of the UNDP and said it was the second biggest contributor to the agency among G-77 countries.
Clark, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, also complimented India for its increasing capabilities in reducing damages caused by natural disasters. On her part, Swaraj said India had started working on seven out of the 17 SDG goals with concrete policies and programmes with particular emphasis on issues of sanitation and gender equality.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his reply to the President's address had also called for a special day in each of our Parliament sessions devoted to discussions on SDGs alone. Discussions also touched on climate change issues and outcome of the COP-21 in Paris.
They also discussed steps required for moving from Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Swaraj also briefed her on the International Solar Alliance whose Secretariat had already been set up in India.
The UNDP administrator mentioned natural disasters as posing the biggest threat to SDGs and in this context, she lauded India's Disaster Risk Reduction capabilities, officials said.
