Empowered Group # 6 on Coordinating with Private Sector, NGOs, and International Organisations for COVID-19-related Response Activities New Delhi : 05 APR 2020 (by PIB) : Empowered Group number 6 constituted vide O.M No. 40-3/2020/DM-I(A) dated 29/03/2020 to address the issues pertaining to identification of problems, effective solutions and formulation of plans with three groups of stakeholders – The UN agencies, World Bank, Asian Development Bank Civil Society Organisations and development partners Industry associations – CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM The members of the Empowered Committee, which is chaired by Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog,  include Dr Vijayaraghavan, PSA, Kamal Kishore (Member, NDMA); Sandeep Mohan Bhatnagar (Member, CBIC); Anil Malik (AS, MHA); Vikram Doraiswami, (AS, MEA); P. Harish (AS, MEA); Gopal Baglay (JS, PMO); Aishvarya Singh (DS, PMO); Tina Soni (DS, Cabinet Secretariat);  and the work of EG6 is serviced by Sanyukta Samaddar (Adviser, SDG, NITI Aayog). Six meetings were conducted between 30 March and 3 April with industry associations, IOs, and CSOs about their contribution to the response, their plans for the coming weeks, and the issues they are facing, and their expectations from the government. All 3 groups have proactively pointed out the areas where they need support which the government is following up. They have also been put in touch with other EGs for faster and more effective response and coordination. All minutes of the 6 meetings of the EG 6 have been issued. International Organisations- EG 6 had detailed meetings with UN Resident Coordinator for India, and country heads of WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, ILO, UN Women, UN-Habitat, FAO, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. Following the discussions on these IO’s providing technical support in monitoring and surveillance systems, strengthening health and nutritional services, capacity building, finacial resources and critical equipment support, etc, the UN in India has built a Joint Programme Response Plan and submitted to NITI Aayog, defining their clear activities and deliverables in different sectors and States, where they are partnering with Union Ministeries and State Governments. Civil Society Organisations and development partners EG 6 conducted detailed deliberations  with 40 plus prominent CSOs…