India grants $3 million aid to support reconstruction, rehabilitation efforts in hurricane-affected countries

New York, October 7: Many countries are affected drastically due to a hurricane and to help them many countries along with India have come forward. To help hurricane-affected countries, India has contributed an additional $3 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, a facility established in June of this year to support other developing countries in their efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

However, with this additional contribution of $3 million, India till date has provided $5 million to the Facility. The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York, Syed Akbaruddin said, “This new contribution to the India-UN Partnership Development Fund emphasizes India’s commitment to support our partner countries in the spirit of solidarity, and our increasing engagement in cooperation through the United Nations system. The contribution today will also support reconstruction efforts in two of our partner countries, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica.”

Earlier at the 3rd India-CARICOM Ministerial Meeting on the sidelines of UNGA in New York, the External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj announced of granting a fund of $2 million from India to UN Development Partnership Fund for rehabilitation projects in CARICOM as a token of solidarity. This was in addition to an emergency aid of US $200,000 to the worst affected countries from hurricanes also announced by Minister Swaraj.

Meanwhile, the Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of UNOSSC Jorge Chediek said, “India is a leader in South-South cooperation, and is intensifying its support to peer-countries. It is a pleasure to work with visionary leaders that are committed to building a better future for all.”

Notably, the India-UN Development Partnership Fund is a facility established in June of this year to support other developing countries in their efforts to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The fund is managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), which also serves as its Board of Directors secretariat, and coordinates implementation of projects through multiple United Nations Agencies, governments and other stakeholders.

Interestingly, the India-UN Development Partnership Fund takes a multi-dimensional approach to supporting partner-country efforts to accelerate their own sustainable development. It provides funding for demand-driven, country-own initiatives ranging all goals in the framework of the SDGs.

Within a short span of time, 4 months, the Fund has developed an impressive portfolio of projects in Chad, Dominica, Liberia, Tuvalu and a regional project benefiting seven States in the South Pacific: the Cook Islands, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Nauru, the Solomon Islands and the Kingdom of Tonga.