Ranchi, Jharkhand | November | Monday | 21, 2016 :: UNICEF is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. To commemorate this milestone the ‘Jharkhand Development Dialogue Lecture Series’ have been organized as part of the ‘UNICEF on Campus Knowledge Initiative’ in 2016. The second such lecture was organized in XISS today. The lectures were delivered by Sanjay Kumar [ Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand ]; Ms. Susan Vishwanathan [ Professor of Sociology, JNU ]; Ramesh Sharan [ Professor of Economics, Ranchi University ]; & Dr. Madhulika Jonathan [ Chief of UNICEF office of Jharkhand ].
Dr. Madhulika Jonathan said, “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focus on reaching the most marginalized and vulnerable. It stresses on equitable development and leaving no one behind. Out of the 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs, there are some which are specifically focused on children and young people. There is a need to increase social accountability which has to be built bottom up and young people can be the agents to being about this change.”
Sanjay Kumar [ Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister ] said, “The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been replaced by the SDGs which have an economic, social and environmental impact. This can be measured only which these goals and targets are regularly monitored. There is a need to evolve a suitable strategy and interface for partnership between the government and academia to support further deliberation and research in this area.”
Gender inequality and child labour are socially conditioned and accepted. Respect for child rights and human rights is imperative for any kind of development and should be inculcated in the family and all institutions. We should engage more with children and young people on issues that impact their lives, He added.
Ms. Susan Vishvanathan spoke about climate change and its impact on communities in Ladakh and Kerala and how they are looking at alternatives and solutions to combat this change.
Prof Sharan said, “Children have the right to nutrition, education, health, sanitation and protection provided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which has been ratified by most countries in the world. This right is available for every child everywhere. Development must be child centered, people centered and sustainable.”
The programme was attended by NGOs, faculty and students of XISS.
