Thursday 05 / February / 2026
New Delhi: : From SDG localization, acceleration, and financing to digital healthcare solutions, childcare support, crop insurance, and climate action, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India’s ‘Annual Report 2025: The India–UNDP Partnership’ captures progress across these areas in 2025.
The report was launched at UN House today at the Country Programme Management Board meeting, by Ms. Anu P. Mathai, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Dr. Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India.
The report captures India’s transformative results in improving the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, supported by UNDP India and its partners, under the Government of India-UNDP’s Country Programme (2023-27). Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework in India, the Country Programme is a five-year framework that guides our work in the country. It was developed through consultations with partners, including central and state governments, the private sector, civil society, development partners, and academia.
Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative, UNDP India, said, “India’s development progress in 2025 reflects strong government leadership in delivering at scale through public systems. These systems delivered across health, insurance, care, and climate action, reaching women, children, farmers, waste workers, and low-income households. UNDP is proud to have supported these efforts by strengthening technical expertise, helping public programmes function more effectively and respond faster when support was needed.”
UNDP worked with national and state governments to strengthen how the Sustainable Development Goals move from policy to delivery. The SDG Coordination and Acceleration approach is now institutionalized across key ministries, supporting more aligned implementation. At the subnational level, SDG monitoring frameworks are operational in 33 of 36 States and Union Territories, improving how data informs planning and budgeting.
System-level improvements translated into more reliable service delivery on the ground. Government-led digital platforms supported by UNDP, including U-WIN and eVIN, strengthened India’s immunization ecosystem. U-WIN helped track immunization services for 32 million pregnant women and 97 million children, while eVIN enabled monitoring of vaccine stocks and cold-chain temperatures across 30,000 cold-chain points, covering over 650 million doses.
Economic security was reinforced through stronger social protection and risk mitigation. India’s crop insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), expanded coverage to 42 million farmers. These measures helped farming households recover faster from climate and income shocks.
Inclusive growth was shaped by expanded access to rights and social inclusion. Under Project Utthaan, implemented with the support of civil society, government and private sector partners, over 34,900 waste workers were linked to identity documents, health insurance, and social protection schemes. This reduced long-standing exclusion while strengthening occupational safety, healthcare access, and financial inclusion. The learnings from the programme are now informing the implementation of the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme, in partnership with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), with UNDP providing technical support for the nationwide rollout of the scheme.
Community-based childcare models enabled women in low-income urban areas to take up paid work, while also creating jobs in the care economy. Evidence from research, financing analysis, and crèche pilots informed investment pathways for urban childcare and grounded care policy in on-the-ground realities.
Climate action focused on protecting development gains and livelihoods. In 2025, UNDP supported India in designing its soon-to-be-launched National Adaptation Plan and a gender-responsive Biodiversity Finance Plan. Community-led restoration initiatives supported more than 63,000 people with climate-resilient livelihoods, helping reduce vulnerability to environmental shocks while sustaining incomes.
India’s development experience increasingly informed solutions beyond its borders through South–South Cooperation. In partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs and supported by UNDP, systems designed to operate at scale in India were shared with countries facing similar development challenges. India’s crop insurance experience was taken to seven countries as a practical model to protect farmers from climate and income shocks. At the same time, India’s digital public health systems such as U-WIN and eVIN were shared with Zambia and Lao PDR, to strengthen immunization tracking, vaccine supply chains, and last-mile health delivery.
