UNITAR and UNECE Sign Cooperation Agreement

28 January 2016, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe signed a cooperation agreement to formalize their joint efforts to providing training in several issue areas, including road safety, public-private partnerships, and the environment.

The UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach commented on the benefits of the cooperation to Member States, noting that, “Through this partnership, we are acting as one UN, bringing our respective strengths together to create greater impact and make our tools more effective in support of Member States.”

UNITAR Executive Director Nikhil Seth emphasized the role of the partnership in the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as he stated, “UNITAR highly appreciates the excellent work that UNECE has been doing in PPPs, Sustainable Transport and the Environment in the promotion of the SDGs. This enhanced partnership will strengthen our joint efforts to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

In light of the training needs required to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the partnership between UNITAR and UNECE allows the merging of technical expertise with training and capacity-building expertise.  

Joint efforts between the two organizations in the field of public-private partnerships were showcased in the successful implementation of the International Forum on Private Public Partnerships, which was held in Annemasse, France, from 29-30 October 2015, in partnership with the City of Annemasse, the Haute-Savoie Department, the Rhone-Alps Region, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

The partnership will build on the joint work already occurring on the topic of public-private partnerships and will expand the cooperation to the themes of road safety and the environment in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The focal points for the implementation of the agreement are Mr. Alex Mejia, Senior Manager for Decentralized Cooperation at UNITAR, and Ms. Virginia Cram-Matos, Director of Economic Cooperation and Trade at UNECE.

Photo 1: UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach and UNITAR Executive Director Nikhil Seth sign the cooperation agreement (Photo Credit: UNECE)

Photo 2: From left to right: Ms. Nicola Koch, Chef de Cabinet, UNECE; Ms. Priti Gautam, Programme Management Officer, Sustainable Transport Division, UNECE; Ms. Virginia Cram-Martos, Director of Economic Cooperation and Trade, UNECE; Mr. Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary, UNECE; Mr. Nikhil Seth, Executive Director; Mr. Alex Mejia, Senior Manager, Decentralized Cooperation Programme, UNITAR; Mr. Sergiusz Ludwiczak, Acting Director, Environment Division, UNECE; and Mr. Tony Bonnici, Economic Affairs Officer, UNECE.