In May 2016, the Health Secretaries of the States and Union Territories of India gathered in the capital and issued “The Delhi Commitment on Sustainable Development Goals for Health”. Among others, the document acknowledged the need to invest in health data collection, analysis and research so that these can properly inform government policies and strategies necessary to address the various challenges facing India’s healthcare. Such commitment is imperative, given that the success of global SDGs over the next 15 years will largely depend on India’s performance. Measuring progress closely to ensure mid-course corrections when needed should be key to India’s health strategy. To examine the issues related to insufficient, district-level data for customised and evidence-based planning, the Observer Research Foundation organised a panel discussion in July 2016, bringing together experts in the field. This paper builds on the key themes discussed by the panel, and from these, draws policy lessons for the road ahead.

The achievement of global sustainable development goals (SDGs) depends largely on India’s progress, given the country’s massive size and its moderate historical success in key health and nutrition outcomes over the last several years. This further increases the relevance and need for effective monitoring of India’s performance, through timely and disaggregated data, which ensures systematic assessments and course-correction. As India will be depending mainly on surveys to supply target-related data in the medium run, this paper classifies existing health and nutrition indicators from the draft National Indicator Framework (NIF), in terms of data availability. By highlighting the gaps in available data, the authors make specific recommendations to streamline existing surveys to align them with the requirements of an NIF for the SDGs. The authors review the draft NIF released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), and propose a revised one as part of this exercise.

As our world grapples with the profound challenges of the 21st century, the concept of sustainability has emerged as a guiding light, illuminating the path towards a more equitable, resilient, and harmonious future. This edited volume, “New Paradigms of Sustainability in the Contemporary Era,” presents a collection of diverse voices and groundbreaking perspectives that collectively redefine how we perceive and approach sustainability in our rapidly evolving world. In this volume, we explore the multifaceted dimensions of sustainability, encompassing not only environmental stewardship but also social inclusivity, economic resilience, and cultural preservation. We delve into innovative paradigms that acknowledge the intricate interplay of these elements, offering fresh perspectives and trans-formative solutions. One of the central themes in this volume is the redefinition of sustainability as a holistic concept. Contributors to this volume challenge conventional silos, encouraging us to view sustainability through a more comprehensive and integrative lens. As we navigate the challenges and opportunities of the contemporary era, let this edited volume serve as a source of inspiration and a catalyst for action. Together, we can embrace new paradigms of sustainability, redefining our relationship with the planet, each other, and the future generations who will inherit the world we shape today.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

At the 2013 Nutrition for Growth Summit in London, 96 signatories (governments, civil society organizations, donors, United Nations’ agencies, and businesses) agreed to support the creation of an annual report on global nutrition that would be authored by an independent expert group, in partnership with a large number of contributors. The first edition of this report, the Global Nutrition Report 2014, puts a spotlight on worldwide progress by the 193 member countries of the United Nations in improving their nutrition status, identifies bottlenecks to change, highlights opportunities for action, and contributes to strengthened nutrition accountability on country and global levels.

New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.