UNITAR

4 November 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR’s Division for People and Social Inclusion hosted the long-awaited dual signing ceremony for the launches of the Master’s Degree in International Affairs and Public Policy with Lusail University, and the Global Training Initiative for Parliamentarians Against Corruption with the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) in the presence of international reporters and news agencies.

The signings were witnessed and endorsed by H.E. Amb. Luis Gallegos, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UNITAR, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador; H.E. Amb. Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN in Geneva; and Mr. Alex Mejia, Director of the Division for People and Social Inclusion at UNITAR.

Mr. Mejia opened the ceremony with words of appreciation for UNITAR's guests: “Qatar is a great partner of UNITAR, thanks to Dr Ali Bin Fetais Ali-Marri (former Attorney General of the State of Qatar, and UN Special Advocate on the Prevention of Corruption). We believe in the power of education, and we are happy to be joining forces to run a joint Master’s Degree at a prestigious university in Doha, and to train more than 1,000 parliamentarians from all over the world.”

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The Global Training Initiative for Parliamentarians Against Corruption is a two-year multi-layered and cross-cutting series of face-to-face, online, and hybrid training created to empower existing anti-corruption legislation, and to inspire new legislation and best practices, while reinforcing the effectiveness of global parliamentarians dedicated to fighting corruption. Over the two years of the project, UNITAR will roll out new e-learning courses; organize intensive workshops in Geneva and Doha; host roundtables; and leverage the ever-growing popularity of UNITAR’s Anti-Corruption Platform.

“Corruption leads to citizens losing trust in their government, it leads to a sense of discrimination, a sense of injustice. Unless this [issue of corruption] is tackled head-on, we will never create the societies that we want to create.”, stated UNITAR’s Executive Director and UN Assistant Secretary General, Mr Nikhil Seth.

The UNITAR-Lusail University Master’s Degree in International Affairs and Public Policy is the newest addition to UNITAR’s partnership portfolio with prestigious academic institutions. The two-year programme leverages each partner’s respective areas of expertise to provide a truly cross-cutting and one-of-a-kind postgraduate learning experience. Students will receive key insights from Lusail University professors and internationally recognized UNITAR experts in all areas necessary to thrive as an international leader in the public sector. In addition to the course content, provided through a carefully selected mix of delivery methods, students will receive a first-hand immersive UN experience through a one-week study visit to Geneva and its international UN agencies.

Prior to signing as witnesses of honor of the agreements, Mr Nikhil Seth commented “I hope that when we meet very soon, we can not only show our intention to do good things, but we will also be able to show this with our actions through the successful implementation of these training programmes.”

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