The strategy will also impact the status of young girls and women. UNFPA and India's Health Ministry signed a five- year plan of cooperation in effect from 2013 till 2017, set to make a contribution to achieving health objectives articulated in government's 12th five-year plan, and accelerate progress on international development targets including the MDGs.
"This programme focuses on key priorities for our population - young people, gender, and ageing. This partnership will help us become more sensitised to their needs and develop expertise to plan policies accordingly," said Health Secretary P K Pradhan.
Focusing on young people, UNFPA will also help government prepare to meet the needs of a rapidly ageing population. By 2030, the number of people over 60 will double and by the year 2050, around 20 per cent of the population would be elderly.
Right now, India is one of the youngest nations in the world, with 358 million or almost one third of the country's population is young aged 10-24 years.
The UNFPA said yet, almost half of girls are married before the age of 18 and one in five young women, aged 20-24, has a child before she is 18 and two of five maternal deaths occur in women aged 20-24.
UNFPA representative India and Bhutan, Frederika Meijer, said, "Investing is the health of vulnerable young women and marginalised communities including tribals and minorities is a key priority for UNFPA, as we believe that investing in young girls helps break cycles of poverty within families."
She said UNFPA will work with government to reach out to greater numbers of adolescents and their families to aim at delaying marriage, letting girls stay in school longer, delaying child bearing and increasing their access to voluntary family planning. "If a young girl can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life," she said.
