11 February 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR was honored to host two groups of students from the Executive Master of Development Policies and Practices (DPP) of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies to share about the Agenda 2030 and its SDGs.

Professionals from the public and private sector, international organisations and NGOs from Latin America, Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia visited the Palais des Nations on 20 January and 11 February 2020.

On 20 January 2020, Mr. Brook Boyer, UNITAR’s Director of the Division for Strategic Planning and Performance addressed a cohort of 38 students from Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, providing an in-depth presentation about the complex nature of the 2030 Agenda, evaluation challenges, and opportunities in the field of training and research. The importance of evaluation in promoting accountability, learning, quality improvement, and enhanced decision-making was also discussed during his keynote address.

On 11 February 2020, Ms. Katinka Koke from the Planning, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Unit together with Mr. Julian Caletti from the Division for Multilateral Diplomacy at UNITAR welcomed 25 students from Africa and Central Asia and shared how an institution can align its areas with the SDGs, presenting concrete examples on how UNITAR has aligned its governance, strategic objectives, and results areas with the SDGs.

At the end of the sessions, the students had the opportunity to visit the Palais des Nations, which is the house of the European headquarters of the United Nations and is the largest UN centre after New York, with more than 25,000 delegates passing through the facilities each year.  Ms. Julia Genth from UNITAR’s Social Development Programme provided an introduction to the United Nations Office at Geneva housed at the Palais des Nations, serving as a focal point for multilateral diplomacy.