NITI Aayog–UNICEF Partnership to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition in Aspirational Districts

6 Mar 2026

NITI Aayog–UNICEF Partnership to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition in Aspirational Districts

NITI Aayog and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) India have signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) to collaborate on improving maternal and child nutrition outcomes.

About the NITI Aayog–UNICEF India Partnership

  • Focus Areas: The initiative focuses on Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks, which are relatively underdeveloped regions requiring targeted policy support.
  • Objective: To leverage the strengths of both institutions for improving nutrition and health outcomes.
  • Key Areas of Intervention: The partnership will support:
    • Strengthening Anganwadi infrastructure for better delivery of child development services.
    • Enhancing nutrition literacy among communities.
    • Improving uptake of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
    • Capacity building of frontline workers such as Anganwadi workers and health staff.
  • IMPAct4Nutrition: IMPAct4Nutrition will serve as a platform to connect businesses, public sector enterprises, and industry associations with nutrition initiatives in Aspirational Districts and Blocks.

About IMPAct4Nutrition (I4N) Platform

  • IMPAct4Nutrition (I4N) is a national platform launched by UNICEF India in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
  • Objective: To mobilise the private sector, public sector enterprises, and civil society to address malnutrition in India through collective action.
  • Key Features: 
    • Multi-stakeholder Platform: Brings together businesses, development partners, government agencies, and civil society organisations to work collectively on nutrition.
    • CSR Mobilisation: Encourages companies to invest CSR funds in nutrition-focused programmes, particularly in underserved and aspirational regions.
    • Technical Support and Knowledge Sharing: Provides technical expertise, best practices, and evidence-based solutions for improving nutrition interventions.
    • Behaviour Change Campaigns: Promotes initiatives on healthy diets, breastfeeding, micronutrient intake, and balanced nutrition.
    • Support to Government Programmes: Complements government schemes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

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Aspirational Districts Programme

  • Launch & Coverage: Launched in 2018 by NITI Aayog to ensure speedy development of 112 underserved and remote districts across India.
  • Thematic Focus: Operates across five key themesHealth & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Infrastructure.
  • Performance Monitoring: Progress is measured using 49 development indicators.

Aspirational Blocks Programme

  • Launch & Coverage: Launched in 2023, initially covering 500 blocks, later extended to 513 blocks in 2025.
  • Core Objective: Aims to achieve saturation of essential government services at the block level.
  • Thematic Areas: Focuses on five themes, Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Allied Services, Basic Infrastructure, and Social Development.

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UDAAN PRELIMS WALLAH
Comprehensive coverage with a concise format
Integration of PYQ within the booklet
Designed as per recent trends of Prelims questions
हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध

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