Chief Minister M.K. Stalin signs MoU with UN Women on inclusive development

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UN Women to strengthen the initiatives in the State to improve women’s welfare, gender equality, and inclusive development at the Secretariat in Chennai. The agreement was signed in the presence of representatives from UN women, UNICEF, and other senior government officials.

An official press release said a tripartite cooperation agreement was also signed between Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) and UNICEF – Office of Innovation (UNICEF–OoI).

The MoU between the UN Women and the Tamil Nadu Government aims to strengthen institutional capacities for gender-responsive governance and planning such as achieving Sustainable Development Goals through a gender-equality perspective, strengthening gender-responsive planning and budgeting and to create economic opportunities for women. UN Women will provide technical support to the Government of Tamil Nadu for implementing these initiatives. The Social Welfare and Women’s Rights Department, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department will be directly involved in these activities.

The UNICEF Office of Innovation (Sweden) has selected Tamil Nadu as the first sub-national government globally to enter into a six-month tripartite cooperation agreement with the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission and aims to promote inclusive social development aligned with Tamil Nadu’s long-term vision and improve, reform, and integrate public service delivery systems.