What we do

India

The world’s largest democracy and second most populous country emerged as a major power in the 1990s and is now a fast-growing economy with major influence. India’s 1.3 billion people live in 28 States and 7 Union Territories. India is among the most diverse societies in the world, an amalgamation of languages, religions and cultures. The country is also a place of increasingly stark extremes in wealth. In the same India where millions use smartphones, millions struggle to survive. Despite elaborate institutional mechanisms within and across the different levels of government, the delivery of quality basic services to the poorest and most marginalised is erratic and weak. India has a strong national legislation and has made significant progress towards strengthening the education system and getting more children into school over the past decade. However, staggering numbers of children (especially girls) remain out of school, due to relatively few effective interventions to tackle prominent socio-cultural barriers and a lack of systemic quality education sector reforms. (Sources: UNICEF 2017; UNDP 2018; UNAIDS 2017; World Bank 2017)

total population (thousands)

1,324,171

GNI per capita

1790$

Life expectancy at birth

69 years

Human Development Index

130 (out of 189)

Under-5 mortality rate

43‰

Primary school net enrolment

92%

Adult HIV prevalence (% of the population)

0.2%

People of all ages living with HIV (thousands)

2,100

improved access to safe water (% of the population)

88%

moderate-severe underweight (% children under-5)

38%