India Day @ UNGA

Welcome Remarks

Binaya Srikanta Pradhan, Consul General of India to New York

B. Srinivasan, Member of the Board, Observer Research Foundation

Video Launch of Report - The Next Frontier: Charting the Contours of the Post-2030 Development Agenda

Host 

Samir Saran, President, Observer Research Foundation

Session 1 | To the Lighthouse? Promises and Pathways for the Rising South

The demographic dividend of the Global South, and the growing incidence of high-impact cooperation and digital transformation among its nations are driving a new era of development and growth. India’s transformative journey over the last few decades in terms of ideas, innovation and implementation has produced a wide range of lighthouse initiatives that other Southern nations have expressed an interest in adapting or replicating. The cross-pollination of ideas could buttress individual countries’ development trajectories, while helping craft a collective South-led vision for sustainable development. Responding to the need to export best practices and contextualize them strategically, this panel will explore the following questions:

• How do historical contexts still impact today’s development strategies across the Global South? And how can these experiences be shared globally to overcome systemic challenges? 
• Can South-South or triangular development partnerships provide a viable alternative to traditional North-South cooperation models to create more balanced development landscapes? What does Indian leadership of these alternative development models look like? How is it different from other emerging development models?
• Over the past decade, India has been able to deliver public services at scale—drinking tap water, toilets, gas connections, and affordable housing—are just a few examples. While a rising GDP has helped, money often does not translate into action. What is the governance story behind the India story? And how can the Indian experience leveraged to strengthen related capacities in other parts of the developing world?

Speakers:

Daniel Seymour, Director, Strategic Partnerships, UN Women
Gargee Ghosh, President, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Udaibir Saran Das, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation America 
Aude Darnal, Research Analyst and Project Manager, Stimson Center 

Moderator: 

Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, Observer Research Foundation America

Break

Session 2 | Technology Transforming Lives: Accelerating Towards an Inclusive Digital Ecosystem

The digital revolution has created opportunities to significantly accelerate inclusive development, especially in the Global South. Leveraging new technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers considerable potential to address language barriers, enhance access to quality  education, improve healthcare, strengthen governance and broaden access to sustainable livelihoods. However, digital technologies can also widen existing inequalities, making it critical for countries to design inclusive programmes and policies. Countries like India demonstrate the vast potential for how innovations such as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) and financial technology (FinTech) innovations can drive economic empowerment and better governance, especially for marginalised communities. Lessons from other countries in the Global South, such as Kenya's Mobile Money and Bangladesh's microfinance, also highlight innovative solutions that can integrate underserved populations into the digital ecosystem. By leveraging these strategies and through cross learning across geographies, the Global South can harness digital technologies for sustainable development and economic growth to benefit the most vulnerable communities. This session will explore the following questions:

• Digital technology has transformed the development landscape. In India, for example, the pace of change has been considerable, especially given the availability of affordable data.  What lessons can be drawn from the Indian experience with tech-led transformation and digital innovation to help other countries in the Global South, especially to benefit marginalised communities?
• What are some of the tactics that have proved to be successful in addressing the gender digital divide in India and other countries in the Global South, and what impact can this have to strengthen education and livelihood outcomes for women and girls?
• Given the progress that India and other Global South countries have made towards digital financial inclusion, how do we ensure this progress is accelerated and universalised? How can we foster the development of these capabilities in different country contexts, including leveraging the potential of digital to strengthen public services for the most vulnerable communities?
• As we look ahead, to continue to drive innovation, how do we ensure that we are equipping youth with the necessary skills and knowledge for the future, especially in areas such as AI and cyber security, to ensure there is home grown talent to build inclusive technology.

Speakers:

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive, The British Asian Trust

Michael Wiegand, Director, Inclusive Financial Systems, Global Growth & Opportunity, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Claire Sibthorpe, Head of Digital Inclusion, M4D at GSMA

Keyzom Ngodup Massally, Head of Digital & AI Programmes, United Nations Development Programme

Christopher Burns, Agency Chief Digital Development Officer and Director, Technology Division

Moderator: 

Vanita Sharma, Advisor on Strategic Initiatives, Reliance Foundation

Session 3 | Power of Women-Led Development: Femme Forward for the Future

Countries around the globe are making remarkable progress toward gender-responsive futures. As commitment to gender diversity grows, companies with more women in executive roles are witnessing above-average profitability, and women leaders at the grassroots are at the forefront of creating real change in their communities, highlighting the resilience and innovation women bring to leadership. During its G20 Presidency last year, India played an important role in mainstreaming the potential of women-led development across verticals on a global stage. As we look to the Summit of the Future, and beyond the 2030 agenda, this session will explore the following questions:

• Through legal provisions, India has demonstrated political will to enhance female representation in leadership roles in the political domain. Can we now move towards a global compact that increases female representation across boardrooms and global institutions? 
• India, during its G20 Presidency, introduced the ‘women-led development’ lexicon in gender-based policy making. How can the post 2030 development agenda be infected with this paradigm? Can the post-2030 development agenda itself be women-driven and women-led?
• The care economy is disproportionately shouldered by women. This unpaid labour often hinders their participation in the formal workforce and limits their economic opportunities. What comprehensive policy solutions, community initiatives, and cultural shifts can be implemented to attach monetary value to this labour?

Speakers:

Archna Vyas, Director, Program Advocacy and Communications, Growth, Opportunity, and Empowerment, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Pritha Venkatachalam, Partner and Co-Head, Asia and Africa, The Bridgespan Group

Ajaita Shah, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Frontier Markets

Jessica Posner Odede, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Effect

Moderator: 

Sarah Hendriks, Director, Policy, Programme & Intergovernmental Division, UN Women

Break

Session 4 | Exploring a New Development Paradigm: Reference to LiFE Economy

In recognition of India’s efforts in further evolving the global debate on climate change, the G20 Bali Leaders Declaration endorsed the concept of sustainable development and lifestyles, resource efficiency, and circular economy. Under India’s presidency of G20, LiFE acquired added momentum with adoption of G20 High Level Principles on Lifestyles for Sustainable Development (Varanasi Principles). In this backdrop the session would explore the idea of LiFE Economy is being viewed as a possible roadmap for sustainability, coherent growth process with inclusion. There are five prominent facets—sustainable consumption and production (SCP), including circular economy, reorienting development finance and prompting resilient infrastructure financing, measuring wellbeing going beyond GDP, embracing social enterprises and community participation for sustainable and equitable development, and mainstreaming ethical and value-based economic systems, technology development, and global governance. Recognizing the continuing challenges of rising inequalities, deepening vulnerabilities, and difficulties in achieving sustainable transitions. The G20 Presidency of Brazil has recognized the need for exploring new opportunities, to be furthered in the South African Presidency next year. The session would look into the broader policy perspectives for a new development paradigm with reference point of LiFE economy.

Speakers:

Ligia Noronha, UN Assistant Secretary-General; Head of the UNEP New York Office

Ibrahim Mayaki, Special Envoy for Food Systems, African Union

Rafaela Guedes, Senior Fellow, the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)

Pamla Gopaul, Head of the Policy Bridge Tank Programme, Economic Analysis and Foresight Unit, African Union Development Agency

Nicolas J.A. Buchoud, Founding Principal, Grand Paris Alliance for Metropolitan Development

Moderator: 

Pramod K. Anand, Visiting Fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries

Valedictory Address

Pooja Kapur, Additional Secretary (G20) and Sous-Sherpa, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India

Lunch