The document discusses MDG 7, which aims to ensure environmental sustainability. It focuses on India's progress and challenges in achieving the targets of MDG 7 related to access to safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and improving the lives of slum dwellers. While India has made progress in areas like water coverage in rural areas, it faces major challenges in sanitation access and quality. UNICEF supports the government's efforts in areas like hygiene education, school sanitation programs, and scaling up access to water and sanitation facilities.

1. MDG 7Ensure Environmental Sustainability

2. MDG what are theyAt the Millennium Summit in September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion-while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights-the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security.

3. Ensure Environmental SustainabilityTarget 9. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources Indicators25. Proportion of land area covered by forest (FAO)26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area (UNEP-WCMC)27. Energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP (PPP) (IEA, World Bank)28. Carbon dioxide emissions per capita (UNFCCC, UNSD) and consumption of ozone-depleting CFCs (ODP tons) (UNEP-Ozone Secretariat)29. Proportion of population using solid fuels (WHO) Target 10. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation Indicators30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO)31. Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural (UNICEF-WHO) Target 11. Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers Indicators32. Proportion of households with access to secure tenure (UN-HABITAT)

4. India…..Every second young child in India is malnourished Less than ¼ of rural population use toiletsOnly 4 out of 10 girls who enrol complete eight years of schoolingEconomic transformation since early 1990s without corresponding positive change in social development.Uneven expansion of social opportunities with growing disparities across regions, castes, sex and other characteristics.

5. BackgroundGlobal power in key economic sectors. Positive trends near eradication of polio; literacy rates; and the enrolment of both boys and girls in primary school. Slow in primary health care and community-based nutrition services There has also been limited change in the practice of key behaviours related to child well-being, such as hand washing and exclusive breastfeeding.The HIV/AIDS ,child protection, including trafficking and child labour, Tsunami, flooding and earthquakes have also Adversely affected the lives of children in India. This uneven development path has been further exacerbated by striking and persistent inequities by gender, caste and geography.

6. BackgroundGOI has adopted ambitious targets related to children that are in line with, and at times more ambitious than, the MDGS. Centrally-sponsored schemes have increased public resources to key sectors, notably the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan in education (the national policy to universalize primary education), the Reproductive and Child Health Programme II, the National Rural Health Mission and the Integrated Child Development Services.The challenge remains to convert these commitments and resources into measurable results for all children, especially those belonging to socially disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

7. India’s share of global challenge

8. The national infant mortality rate, for example, is 60 per 1,000 live births, but ranges from 83 in Orissa to 11 in Kerala.Intra-state variations can be equally if not more extreme. Achieving the MDGs will depend largely on India’s poorer states, notably Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. These states fare worst on most MDG indicators, and have large, fast-growing populations.

9. GOI Monitorable Targets for the Tenth Plan 2002 to 2007 and beyondIncrease in forest and tree cover in 25 per cent by 2007 and 33 per cent by 2012Cleaning of all major polluted rivers by 2007 and other notified stretches by 2012.All villages to have sustained access to potable drinking water within the Plan period.

10. Current rates of progress on many indicators are not sufficient to meet many of the child-related National Development Targets by 2007, nor the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Greater effort and focus must be directed to enrolling all children in the development process through improved access, management and provision of quality basic social services, promoting child-related behaviour change within households, and mobilizing the community to become more involved in the management of services for children.

11. Water coverageIndia is well on track to meeting the MDG on water coverage, though quality and sustainability remain key issues. On sanitation, achieving the MDG will demand massive investments in facilities and even more in changing hygiene practices.In 2004, water coverage stood at 94% of rural habitations. Despite the impressive coverage of safe drinking water facilities in the rural areas, there is a great deal of concern about water quality and sustainability. According to government data, effective coverage slipped from 95% to 85%, taking into account the impact of declining water tables and ageing hand pumps. The situation calls for an urgent transformation in managing fresh water resources. Conservation and cooperation among water users through wise water management is a concept being strongly advocated by UNICEF.

12. Water Coverage

13. SanitationSanitation coverage stands at 35% among the rural population, which means this level needs to rise to 53% by 2015 to meet the MDG target, a huge challenge in terms of investment, creation of facilities and related hygiene practices. GOI has launched major reforms in the water and sanitation sector in rural areas through national water supply programmes (Swajaldhara) and the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), which are demand-driven and community-managed.Household access to toilets, as low as 5% in 1990, is accelerating, particularly during the last two years. According to government data, the percentage of households with some form of toilet is now about 36%.

14. Water and sanitation facilities in schools

15. School Sanitation and Hygiene EducationNational planning calls for water and sanitation facilities in all of the country’s elementary schools and anganwadicentres before 2006. This is an unrealistic target, and systematic planning, implementation and monitoring is required to scale up with quality. The greatest challenge in school sanitation is the use of water and sanitation facilities and the adoption of hygiene practices.

16. UNICEF India’s Child Environment ProgrammeUNICEF’s India’s Child environment Programme (CEP) supports the government efforts to provide a safe and a more conducive environment for a safe and healthy start to life implemented in 161 districts across 14 states, focussed on the following: Improve personal, home hygiene and sanitation practices.Improve hygiene practices in anganwadisSafe handling, storage, retrieval and home based treatment of waterImproved hygiene practices among students and teachers in schoolsGreater sustainability in rural water and sanitation

17. Key resultsMove from pilots developments to scaling up in all 14 states contributing to an increased sanitation national coverage of 4 % compared to 1.5% in the last programme cycle. UNICEF has been closely working with the Government of India in implementation of Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) - an incentive scheme to reward the local bodies for eliminating the practise of open defecation. National, state and district communication plans to promote hygiene behaviour, construction and use of sanitation facilities developed and under implementation in 161 districts across 14 states.State plans of action for school sanitation and hygiene education finalised in 5 states and under preparation in other states to achieve 100% of coverage with water, sanitation and hygiene by 2007.Water and sanitation included in Quality Education package promoted within context of “Education for All” programme in CEP districts, particularly in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Karnataka and increasingly in other states.

18. Key resultsUNICEF supported the development of state policies and vision document for water and sanitation sector in 14 states. Development of national, state and district level monitoring systems, emphasising use of facilities rather than just coverage of infrastructureWater quality issues have gained attention and water quality testing and mitigation efforts are being scaled focussing on Arsenic in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and fluoride in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh. Support to different emergencies (12 over last 18 months) have resulted in prevention of outbreak of diseases and provision of basic water, sanitation and hygiene services to affected children and their families. Efficient targeting of subsidies through involvement of Women self help groups and local representatives. Alternate delivery mechanisms such as rural sanitary marts for scaling through public private partnerships.