Northeast SDG index report set to be launched

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Aug. 24 (EMN): NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will be launching the first edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) district Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) index report and dashboard 2021–22 on August 26.

According to a press release, the inaugural edition is the first of its kind — a region-wide district SDG index in the country — and a milestone in the efforts towards localising the SDGs  in 120 districts of eight states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.

The NER district SDG Index and dashboard is a collaborative effort of NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP that measures the performance of the districts of the eight states of the Northeast on SDGs and their corresponding targets and ranks the districts based on the same.

The index is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index which is an official tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs at the national and state/union territory levels and shares the common ethos of benchmarking performance and ranking on the SDGs to foster competition among the districts.

The NER district SDG index and dashboard baseline report 2021-22 has been prepared by NITI Aayog, the nodal agency for SDGs in India, utilising 84 indicators that cover 15 of the global goals across 50 targets.

The construction of the index and the ensuing methodology embodies the central objectives of measuring the performance of districts on the SDGs and ranking them; supporting states in identifying areas that require more attention; and promoting healthy competition among them. All aspects related to the selection of indicators and computation methodology of the NER district SDG index and dashboard followed extensive consultation with all the eight states of the region.

States played a crucial role in shaping the index by enriching the feedback process with localised insights and field experience, it said.

The index will facilitate in identifying crucial gaps and inform interventions to fast track progress towards achieving the SDGs in the region and act as a ready reckoner for gauging the progress of districts on the expansive set of the global goals on health, education, gender, economic growth, institutions, climate change and environment, among others.

It informed that the NER district SDG index is another milestone in NITI Aayog’s efforts in localising the SDGs from ‘global to national to local’.

The vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar; Union Minister of DoNER, Tourism and Culture, G Kishan Reddy; and Union Minister of State for DoNER and Cooperation, BL Verma, will launch the index and dashboard in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Dr. Inderjit Singh and resident representative in-charge of UNDP India, Nadia Rasheed.