NITI Aayog and UNICEF India have signed a Statement of Intent to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes in Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks, marking a significant step toward enhancing collaborative efforts to address maternal and child health challenges in underserved regions of the country.
The Statement of Intent was signed on 5 March 2026 by Rohit Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme at NITI Aayog, and Arjan de Wagt, Deputy Representative of UNICEF India. The partnership seeks to combine the institutional strengths of both organisations to accelerate progress in improving health and nutrition indicators in high priority districts and blocks.
The collaboration aims to support strategic interventions that enhance maternal and child nutrition outcomes while strengthening implementation mechanisms at the grassroots level. The initiative will focus on promoting multi stakeholder engagement and reinforcing service delivery systems to ensure effective execution of nutrition and health programmes.
Rohit Kumar highlighted that the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme has demonstrated the effectiveness of convergence, collaboration and data driven governance in accelerating development outcomes. He noted that partnerships with organisations such as UNICEF India would further strengthen efforts to address critical health and nutrition challenges and improve last mile delivery of essential services in priority regions.
Under the partnership framework, UNICEF India will provide technical expertise through the IMPAct4Nutrition platform. The platform will facilitate engagement with businesses, public sector enterprises and industry associations to mobilise corporate social responsibility investments for nutrition related initiatives.
The collaboration will focus on strengthening Anganwadi infrastructure, improving nutrition literacy among communities and enhancing the uptake of Integrated Child Development Services. Capacity building of frontline workers will also be a key priority to ensure effective delivery of nutrition and health interventions at the community level.
Key activities planned under the partnership include mobilising corporate social responsibility partners to support nutrition and health programmes, encouraging community participation in local health initiatives and creating knowledge sharing platforms to identify and disseminate best practices that can be scaled across Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks.
Officials said the partnership will also promote evidence based approaches to programme implementation and strengthen coordination between government agencies, private sector stakeholders and community institutions working in the field of public health and nutrition.
The agreement reflects a shared commitment by NITI Aayog and UNICEF India to accelerate progress in addressing malnutrition and health challenges in underserved regions. By combining technical expertise, institutional support and stakeholder engagement, the initiative seeks to create sustainable improvements in nutrition and health outcomes for vulnerable populations.
The Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks Programme continues to focus on targeted development interventions, data driven governance and collaborative partnerships to bridge regional development gaps and improve quality of life in some of the country’s most challenging regions.
