Although these have been difficult times for the city, the UNITAR New York Office has been able to successfully transition all our meetings, trainings, and conferences to a virtual format. In fact, thanks to the added capacity of webinars and livestreams, recent events and trainings have been able to reach a wider and more diverse audience than ever before.

During the pandemic, UNITAR NY Office has developed 11 capacity building events and impacted 4,700 participants (including the SDG Learning Center in July). Thank you to the team and Ambassador’s vision, UNITAR NY Office feels confident that future trainings will be a success too.

Helping the team disconnect from work:

The UNITAR New York Office team was able to finally meet in person this past week after five months of telecommuting. Thank you to the initiative of Ambassador Marco Suazo, Head of Office, the staff of the New York Office had a great time together while exchanging feelings, experiences and how to continue to fit work from home.

The entire UNITAR New York Office sends you greetings and best wishes for an enjoyable remainder of your summer.

Trainings and events over the last several months have included:

We are looking forward to a range of trainings and events scheduled for the autumn including:

Lastly, we would like to welcome two new members of the NYO team:

Garima Deepak, Consultant

Garima Deepak is originally from India. She moved to New York in 2018 to pursue her LL.M. from New York University (NYU) School of Law in International Legal Studies and graduated as Dean’s Graduate Scholar in 2019.  She was a graduate editor of NYU Journal of International Law & Politics as well as a board member of NYU’s International Arbitration Association.

Prior to the LL.M., Miss Garima was a Senior Associate with a top-tier law firm in India, in the International Dispute Resolution & Trade policy practice. She has worked extensively with the Government of India on WTO dispute settlement, international litigation, arbitration, treaty negotiation and trade policy and advisory. Also, she was the youngest Indian lawyer to have argued before the WTO Appellate Body, Geneva in India’s first Sanitary and Phytosanitary dispute (India-Agriculture Products).

She recently cleared the New York State Bar Exam and is waiting to be sworn in as a New York State attorney. She is thrilled to become a part of the UNITAR family and learn from the interplay of international issues and diplomacy on a global platform!

Harris LaTeef, Consultant

Harris LaTeef, originally from Virginia, is a recent graduate of the London School of Economics, obtaining an MSc in Politics and Communications with a focus on nationalist media. Harris is also a graduate of the University of St Andrews in Scotland where he completed an MA in Modern History with a focus on Russian political culture and historiography.

He was president of the University of St Andrews History Society for two years and managed academic conferences and the publication of the St Andrews Historical Journal which focused on topics ranging from the power of collective memory, the pros and cons of “public history,” and how issues that we are facing today, were dealt with in the past such as climate change, the refugee crisis, and the rising tide of nationalism.

Harris worked with the UNITAR NYO in Summer 2019 and assisted in the preparations for the briefing for New Delegates to the 74th General Assembly and the Fifth Committee. Additionally, he has worked on drafting the Guidelines for United Nations Resolutions and helped manage the 2020 SDGs Learning, Training, and Practice.

Our team is also comprised of:

H.E. Mr. Marco A. Suazo, Head of Office  

H.E. Mr. Suazo is a career diplomat in the Foreign Service of Honduras where he served in various positions at the Permanent Mission of Honduras since 1990, representing Honduras in the Security Council 1995-1996.  He served as Deputy Ambassador until August 2015. He presided over the work of the Second Committee and the First Committee of the General Assembly.  Besides being Adviser, at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDESA UN.

Mr.  Suazo  has  written  two  publications,  one  for  the  60th  anniversary  of  the Organization in honor of founder-Honduras under the title "Nuestra Historia” (Our History);  in  2013  he  published  "We  the  People"  in  which  through  photography, promotes the  values  and  richness  of  Honduras  and  examines  the  participation  of  his  country  in  the Organization. On the 70th anniversary, he is preparing his third publication dedicated to the history and documentation of Honduras for the Security Council of the United Nations under the title “Diplomacy Written". He currently serves as Head of UNITAR’s Office at the United Nations in New York. 

Pelayo Alvarez, Programme Coordinator

Mr. Pelayo Alvarez works for UNITAR at its New York Office.  Since 2015, he has supported the project implementation coordination for more than a 1000 diplomats every year. He is the focal point for the Series with Columbia University on Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Negotiation which takes place twice every year, strengthening skills on multilateral conflict resolution processes and how to implement them toward solving the world’s issues.  He is also the focal point for the yearly Sustainable Development Goals Learning, Training and Practice Centre, which serves as a platform for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda presented by the UN System, Government, Academia and Private Sector Institutions. Prior to joining UNITAR, Mr. Pelayo Alvarez worked for UNDESA’s Department of Public Administration and Development Management, organizing trainings on Open Government Data in Latin America.

As part of his education, he holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University Carlos III. Mr. Alvarez was recently named honorary fellow of the Foreign Policy Association and was also trained as a mediator by the Columbia Law School Mediation Clinic.

 

Tianyi (Amy) Zhao, Consultant

Tianyi Zhao has been working at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) for 2.5 years. During her time at UNITAR, she has directly overseen several major projects, and attracted donors’ interests and funding resources from NGOs.

She previously served as a communication personnel at the World Bank. Tianyi is an executive board member of the NYU Women’s Initiative and the co-founder of a cross-cultural communication podcast. She graduated from NYU with a master's degree in international politics and business, and she was a member of the inaugural class of NYU Shanghai. Amy is 25 years old and from Beijing, China.


 

Ms. Patricia Romero, Consultant 

Patricia Romero is originally from Ecuador. She completed a master’s degree in Administrative Science with a mention in Diplomacy and Human Resources at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. She has been working at UNITAR NY Office for eight months and is very passioned and committed to the organization of trainings and workshops for the benefit of the diplomatic community in New York.  

Her experience while serving Ecuadorian citizens based in the USA to have a financial culture, gave her a role of leadership in her first job in NJ. After that, she joined the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations for five years where she was able to coordinate and administrate the entire office, including the office of the ambassador, handling schedules of ministers, and organizing side events on sustainability and human rights topics.  

At UNITAR, she is an avid organizer and very collaborative and involved in the realization of workshops, courses and training based on partner’s requirements while she continues to educate herself on diplomacy trends.   

Allyson Ottis, Trainee

Ally Ottis is originally from Naples, Florida. She moved to New York in August of 2019, where she currently is a graduate student in International Relations at New York University.

Prior to her graduate studies, she studied Political Science at the University of North Florida, where she had the opportunity to study under a former Alternate Representative for the United States to the United Nations. It was while taking Ambassador Nancy Soderberg’s courses that Miss Ottis developed a passion for international security and conflict resolution. She focuses her studies primarily on these issues, and specifically how they relate to the post-Soviet sphere. She also has extensive experience working in law, where she routinely conducted legal research and organized continuing-education seminars for attorneys.

Miss Ottis is excited to have the opportunity to develop professional skills in international relations outside of the classroom and in a dynamic environment.

 

Harry Flynt, Trainee

Harry Flynt is originally from Los Angeles, California. He completed his undergraduate studies in Healthcare Administration at Texas Tech University, during which he was able to work in the medical records department of Walnut Hill Medical Center cataloging and organizing post-surgical patient documents. After graduating he proceeded to move to Czech Republic for one year to teach English to adults in the Czech Ministry of Regional Development, followed by moving to China for seventeen months to teach English to children.

Such experiences and individuals encountered along the way, have inspired a deep desire in Mr. Flynt to continue a career focused on world affairs, while also working in diverse and inclusive spaces. As a result of this desire, he has started his graduate studies at New York University in the pursuit of a Master of International Relations. While completing his graduate studies, it will be a great pleasure for him to learn from and work with UNITAR.

 

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