The Hindu : India's commitment to children praised

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 06, 2003

National

National

India's commitment to children praised

The UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, with the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI Sept. 5. The UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, called on the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, on Thursday.

Ms. Bellamy is on a three-day official visit at the invitation of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Ms. Bellamy acknowledged India's progress and commitment to children and expressed appreciation for the bold and ambitious measures taken to create a favourable policy environment for them.

Mr. Sinha and Ms. Bellamy concurred that U.N. organisations such as UNICEF could play an effective role in the development process of a country by responding to the evolving situation in that country.

Mr. Sinha highlighted the role of decentralised governance and 33 per cent participation of women in `panchayats' as critical steps that had brought the focus on providing proper care and education to girls.

Ms. Bellamy acknowledged some excellent examples of successful strategies and projects for children such as the ECOSOC award-winning project `janshala' or community schools. Best practices that had been working in parts of India should be shared internally among the different States and also with other countries, she said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National