On February 18, 2021, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) shortlisted 25 Cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ Cohort, the challenge is hosted by the Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF), Urban95 of BvLF & technical partner World Resources Institute (WRI) India.
- The shortlisted cities will receive support & technical assistance for the next 6 months to implement their proposals.
- ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ is a 3-year challenge that will help Indian cities to adopt & Implement neighbourhood-level pilot projects in public space, mobility, and access to services to enhance the physical and psychological health of young children (0-5 years old) & their caregivers.
- They will create a childhood-friendly environment by ‘re-imagining parks & open spaces, improving access to early childhood facilities, adapting public space with early childhood-oriented amenities, and creating accessible, safe, walkable streets for young children and families’.
Shortlisted Cities:
- Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, Hubballi-Dharwad, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Kota, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Rourkela, Salem, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruppur, Ujjain, Vadodara, and Warangal.
- Around 63 cities from across India had submitted applications for participating in the challenge, from which 25 cities were shortlisted by the Evaluation committee based on the strength of their applications.
Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge:
It was launched by MoHUA under Smart Cities Mission in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) & technical partner WRI India on November 4, 2020.
Objective of the Challenge:
- Promote early childhood centric approach among Indian cities.
- Facilitate demonstration of early childhood centric solutions.
- Catalyse cities to mainstream and implement solutions in long-term.
- Develop peer – peer network of nurturing cities.
- Collect and analyse data related to young children and their caregivers.
Eligibility
It is open to all Indian cities with population above 5 Lakhs including Smart Cities, and Capitals of States/Union Territories.
Framework
The Challenge is based on ITCN (Infant, Toddler, Caregiver-Friendly Neighbourhoods) Framework or Guidelines for creating Infant Friendly cities.
A Plan for the Future
- According to the 2011 Census of India, Around 37 Million Children under age 5 live in urban areas across India.
- By following an early childhood-centric approach to city planning, design & management, Indian cities will have high chances of achieving goals of economic growth, health, safety and sustainability.
Recent Related News:
i.November 20, 2020, MoHUA and Ministry of Jal Shakti launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge and conferred Swachhata Awards 2020 for 20 best performing districts.
About Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF):
Executive Director – Cecilia Vaca Jones
Headquarters – The Hague, Netherlands
About World Resources Institute (WRI) India:
CEO – O P Agarwal
