Proud to be working with Indian government, people for 75 years: UNICEF India representative McCaffrey

By Ila Sankrityayan

New Delhi [India], May 4 : UNICEF India representative Cynthia McCaffrey has said the organisation is very proud to be working with the government and people of India for the past 75 years and the programmes in India are "one of our biggest and most important".

In an exclusive conversation with ANI, she said UNICEF India has worked with the government, private sector and communities on various child-related initiatives.

She said UNICEF India is excited over the appointment of actor Kareena Kapoor Khan as its National Ambassador.

"UNICEF India is so excited that Kareena Kapoor Khan is our India National Ambassador, and she's been working with us for ten years. So we're excited about this new, big role that she has. I would say that we are extremely excited about using her voice and leveraging her voice and presence to advocate for children's rights," she said.

"UNICEF is just very proud to have been working with the government of India, with the people of India for 75 years. It's one of our biggest and most important programmes. And I think the most important is that UNICEF is looking at this as an opportunity to build on the momentum that we've accomplished. So, UNICEF India has worked together with the government, with the private sector, and with communities, to achieve things like reducing under-five child mortality. It's gone down around the world, including in India," she added.

Cynthia McCaffrey said the new National Education Policy is an important initiative of the government that UNICEF has worked with and Swachh Bharat was an important flagship initiative.

She talked about the initiatives concerning the immunisation programme.

"Fifty years ago when the expanded programme for immunization came, UNICEF worked with the government of India to create its universal immunization programme. So working with governments and with the Government of India around these flagships enables us to have technical assistance, learn lessons, and then go to scale. It's the government that's working for her people and UNICEF is bringing the lessons we have from around the world, lessons from India, and then it goes to scale thanks to the government."

During an event in New Delhi, UNICEF India appointed Kareena Kapoor Khan as the National Ambassador.

UNICEF India also announced its Youth Advocates. The four advocates, aged 16 to 24, each have a distinct area of expertise.

Gauranshi Sharma from Madhya Pradesh focuses on the right to play and disability inclusion, Kartik Verma from Uttar Pradesh on climate action and child rights advocacy, Nahid Afrin from Assam on mental health and early childhood development, and Vinisha Umashankar from Tamil Nadu is a young innovator.

These youth advocates are part of UNICEF's worldwide initiative, joining a cohort of over 93 youth advocates who have been appointed throughout the world to drive change on issues affecting children and young people.

Speaking on his appointment as youth advocate, Kartik Verma, said, "Youth can lead the change in India. As the UNICEF India Youth Advocate, I will use my voice to amplify the concerns and perspectives of children and young people especially those from marginalized and vulnerable communities to different stakeholders."

"I am very happy to be appointed as UNICEF India's Youth Advocate. It's a great opportunity for me to use my voice to amplify issues that many young people are dealing with including mental health," said Nahid Afrin, youth advocate from Assam.

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