In News:

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the people working in the waste segregation industry in India to move into formal economy, by helping them access government welfare programmes.

What’s in today’s article:

• About UNDP (Objective, Vision, Funding, etc.)
• News Summary (UNDP’s Programme, Financial Inclusion of ‘Safai Sathis’, What is the need?)

 About United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):

• The UNDP is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development.
• UNDP was established in 1966 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
• UNDP’s work is concentrated in three focus areas –
  • Sustainable development,
  • Democratic governance and peace building, and
  • Climate and disaster resilience.
• Mission & Vision –
  • UNDP’s mandate is to end poverty, build democratic governance, rule of law, and inclusive institutions.
  • It advocates for change, and connect countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.
• Funding – It is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from member nations.
• Headquarters – New York, USA

Reports published by UNDP:

• Human Development Index
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Gender Inequality Index 

News Summary:

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping the people working in the waste segregation industry in India to move into formal economy, by helping them access government welfare programmes.
• As part of the initiative, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General Usha Rao-Monari would distribute the `Jan Dhan’ account kits to waste segregation workers during her first visit to the country, on December 1.
• The opening of the `Jan Dhan’ accounts has been facilitated through the UNDP’s plastic waste management programme.
• The waste management promotes the collection, segregation, and recycling of all plastics to move towards a circular economy for the same.
• This is done at ‘Swachhta Kendra’ or material recovery facilities.
  • The plastic collected and processed so far has already crossed 1,38,000 metric tonnes.

Financial Inclusion of ‘Safai Sathis’:

• The programme run by UNDP aims to ensure the well-being and financial inclusion of the `Safai Sathis’ or waste-pickers, by linking them to the social protection schemes.
• According to the UN agency, a key objective of the programme is to help move the sector from informal to formal.
• The UNDP aims to do this by linking them to social protection schemes like the `Jan Dhan’ accounts, Aadhar cards, `Ayushman Bharat’, pension schemes, and scholarships for children, among others.

Why financial inclusion is the need of the hour?

• A baseline survey done by the UNDP earlier shows that the ‘Safai Sathis’ are employed mainly on the margins of the urban informal sector.
• Their low income and job security are compounded by the fact that nearly 70% come from socially- backward groups and over 60% have no formal education.
• More than 90% workers reported owning an Aadhar card but only a tiny subset have an income, caste, or occupation certificate.
• This thwarts any attempts at formalising their work and limits their access to government social security schemes.
• Less than 5% of those surveyed had any health insurance, indicating very high degrees of health-shock vulnerabilities.