By- Journalist Banibrata Datta (FTFMI)
India has taken over G20 Presidency from Indonesia and the theme of the Indian G20 Presidency, “One Earth, One Family, One Future” and the emphasis on “Lifestyle for Environment” have set the mandate towards a coherent agenda of sustainable development, climate action and climate justice. This philosophy gives the Indian Presidency immense opportunities for building consensus in a fractured world.
As part of the G20 process in India, the Think-tank (T20) discourse by bringing together T20 Task Force members, subject experts, policymakers, diplomats, international organisations, the private sector, foundations and the civil society.
An eleven members team of North Eastern Training, Research and Advocacy Foundation (NETRA) representing the eight states of North East India participated in the two-day Special T20 programme on ‘Global Governance with LiFE, Values and Wellbeing : Fostering Cooperation in Framework, Finance and Technology’ on January 16-17, 2023 at Kushabhau Thakre International Convention Centre (KTICC), Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) in collaboration with T20, U20, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (AIGGPA), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Global Development Centre (GDC) at RIS, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) organised the event where there were around 400 participants from 43 countries.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh inaugurated the programme. Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, DG, RIS and Vice Chairman, AIGGPA and Madhya Pradesh Rajya NITI Aayog made the opening remarks. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, he G-20 Chief Coordinator, Government of India; Dr. Slamet Soedarsono, Deputy Minister of Political Affairs, Law, Security and Defense, Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Indonesia and Shri. Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, Government of India made the special remarks in the inaugural session.
Prof Kesang Degi, Dept of Education, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh; Prof. Polly Vauquline, Professor, Department of Women’s Studies, Gauhati University, Guwahati; Prof. Durga Prasad Chetri, Department of Political Science, Sikkim University, Sikkim, Dr. N.Surjitkumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Indira Gandhi national Tribal University (RC), Manipur; Ivyreen Warjri, Assistant Director (Good Governance), Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute; Prof. Lalnilawma, Head, Dept. of Extension Education and Rural Development, Mizoram University; Dr. Moameren Pongen, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, St. Joseph University, Nagaland; Dr. Jayanta Choudhury, Assistant Professor & Head-in-Charge, Department of Rural Studies, Tripura University; Prof. Subhrabaran Das, Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Tripura University; Dr. Harsh Chaturvedi, Associate Professor, School of Energy Sciences and Engineering, IIT, Guwahati and Miss. Garen Warjri Panor, News Editor, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly channel, Meghalaya had represented NETRA Foundation in the prestigious event.
In a special interactive session with the delegates, Dr. Jayanta Choudhury, Secretary General of NETRA Foundation shared various activities of NETRA Foundation especially on Localisation of SDGs North East India. Dr. Choudhury also emphasized on importance of capacity building of different stakeholders, strengthening of existing local level institutes of the North East India.
He also put importance of collaboration of various agencies and institutes at different levels for the development of North East India.
Prof. Subhrabaran Das also highlighted different strengths and weaknesses of North East region in the special session.
Prof. Polly Vauquline as a panelist in the Parallel Session on ‘Women and Youth led Development’ where she raised the importance of the issues of gender inequality in the country, gender based violence and the need to generate data on women.
She also emphasized that it is important to incorporate gender perspectives and look through gender lenses into every task that India intend to take along in the G20 summit in it Presidency term.
Ivyreen Warjri participated as a panelist in the Parallel Session on ‘One Health, Wellness and Traditional Medicine’ mentioned that traditional medicine is knowledge developed over generations, however, there are issues with certification and registration of practitioners in the country. The panel mentioned that scientific research and trials need to be an important criterion for registration and certification and to ensure knowledge of traditional medicine is passed for future generations, there is a need for proper documentation.
In another parallel session on ‘Green Energy and Logistics’, Dr Harsh Chaturvedi as one of the panelists emphasized on collaborative mechanism for joint technology development and IP sharing and development of Technologically viable, Economically feasible and Ecologically responsible methods for implementation of SDGs.
He also suggested for joint programs of capacity building connecting Higher Education institutes with grassroots and database development and sharing of best practices.
NETRA Foundation also selected as Knowledge partners to coordinate G20 University Connect programme in 8 North Eastern Universities as identified by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India – Tripura University, Agartala, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh; Indian Institute of Technology, Guwhati; Dibrugarh University, Assam; Manipur University, Imphal; North Eastern Hill University, Meghalaya; Mizoram University, Aizawl and St. Joseph University, Nagaland.
In the valedictory Session, Ambassador S. T. Devare, Chairman, Research Advisory Council of RIS, India chaired while Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, DG, RIS presented the Conference Report while Dr. Sabyasachi Saha, Associate Professor, RIS puts the vote of thanks. The Bhopal Declaration also brought as outcome of the two-day special T20 meeting.
