The inaugural batch of four projects under the "India UN Global Capacity Building Initiative" was launched on August 1 by Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal of the Ministry of External Affairs, according to a statement issued by the MEA.

The launch event was attended by the Heads of Missions from the countries where these projects are being implemented, UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp, heads of various UN agencies in India, and senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The initiative had been announced in September 2023 during the 78th United Nations General Assembly in the presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. After the announcement, the Ministry of External Affairs and the UN country team in India jointly worked to identify the projects and plan their implementation, with the aim of advancing south-south cooperation to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the MEA stated.

India had played a leading role in capacity development for the global south for many years. Its flagship programme, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation or ITEC, provided over 12,000 training slots every year to around 160 countries in more than 400 specialised courses, with over 2,25,000 training slots delivered since its beginning.

The India UN Global South Capacity Building Initiative was a natural extension of India’s experience in technical and economic training. It involved collaboration with UN agencies and aimed to develop demand-driven programmes in each country, focusing on human resource development through specialised training in areas aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the MEA, the UN agencies would help host governments select SDG-focused projects and oversee related aspects, while the training component would be carried out under India’s ITEC programme.

In the first phase, four projects were selected for implementation. These included (a) Rice Fortification and Supply Chain Management in Nepal with the support of the World Food Programme, (b) a Digital Health Platform for Lao PDR and Zambia supported by UNDP, (c) Census Preparedness in Belize, Barbados, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and St Kitts and Nevis in partnership with the UN Population Fund, and (d) a Vocational Training Programme for South Sudan with support from UNESCO.

The MEA confirmed that ITEC training institutions had already been selected for these projects and the training courses were scheduled to begin from September 2025.