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New Delhi: An International Centre for Human Development to be set up in India will support efforts by governments of the South to integrate human development approaches to ensure improved development outcomes for poor and marginalized people.
As Governments of the South are increasingly dealing with the multiple challenges of changing aspirations of citizens, rapidly globalizing economy, environmental sustainability, and rising inequality, this Center is designed to provide new approaches and solutions.
An Agreement to this effect was signed by Peter R deSouza, Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) and Lise Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, India. The Agreement was signed in the presence of Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology; Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Chairman, IIAS and Ajay Chhibber, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Assistant Administrator.
The Centre aims to provide policy advisory services based on national and international evidence to ensure that human development concerns become integral to planning processes and policy making. The Centre also proposes to focus on moving from human development analysis to action and on adaptation of good practices to local contexts. It will also provide a range of capacity development tools and services with a special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of human development processes and outcomes.
“The Centre will provide a range of services to national governments and will be guided by the objective of translating the analysis of human development reporting to policy inputs and practices that can help advance human development” said Peter R deSouza.
These include – research and analysis support on the policy dimensions of a human development approach including trade-offs of various people-centered policy measures; policy advisory services that can help translate the human development concept into policies aimed at improving human development at national, sub-national and local levels; developing capacity of national governments, parliamentarians, CSOs and academia to undertake human development-oriented policymaking and advocacy; and monitoring and evaluation support to develop and support decentralized and community level monitoring tools.