5 February 2013, Lusaka, Zambia — A national workshop on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was held on 5 February 2013 in Lusaka, Zambia. The workshop brought together 59 participants from government, industry, civil society, and academia; representing the sectors related to the GHS, as well as a resource person from UNITAR.

15 February 2013, Geneva, Switzerland - As the attention of the international community turns once again to the importance of building resilience through capacity development, UNOSAT and IGAD have launched into a project to do just that, with a practical focus on the use of geospatial technologies to improve disaster reduction in East Africa.

13 February 2013, Lausanne, Switzerland - The campus of the prestigious Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) played host to the first meeting of the new AP-Swiss initiative launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in partnership with the

8 February 2013, Geneva, Switzerland -  UNITAR’s Multilateral Diplomacy Programme is introducing a new online course, “Climate Change Diplomacy: Negotiating Effectively Under UNFCCC,” in collaboration with Ricardo-AEA and the CDKN Advocacy Fund. Climate change negotiators from the poorest and most climate vulnerable countries are eligible to apply for a fee-waiver, with thanks to the CDKN Advocacy Fund.

The UNITAR training centre for local governments in Asia, CIFAL Jeju, is launching its new training series on food and nutrition security to build local government knowledge, skills and capacities in the region.

28 January 2012, New York, USA - The New York Times has once again used UNOSAT satellite derived analysis to illustrate an international humanitarian crisis, this time the surge of Syrian refugees crossing the border with Jordan to seek shelter at the Al Zaatari camp.

January 2013, Conakry, Republic of Guinea – In the framework of the project “Developing an Integrated National Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals and SAICM Implementation in the Republic of Guinea,” the Final National SAICM Project Workshop was held from 24 to 25 January 2013 with the participation of UNITAR and some 45 participants from public and private sectors, civil society, and academia.

24 January 2013, Geneva, Switzerland - Mozambique is being affected by flooding that may match in intensity the catastrophic emergency in 2000 that cost the life of 800 people and brought havoc and loss to the country.

16 January 2013, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Arab countries part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have specific requirements in the area of emergency management and disaster risk reduction, including geographic information and satellite analysis. This is what emerged from discussions held in Riyadh in conjunction with the UNISDR-GCC Training Workshop on reducing and managing disaster risk (13-16 January 2013).

January 2013 - Cyclone Evan is a powerful category 4 storm that tore through the Pacific in December 2012 and was initially compared to the dramatic storm that hit the same region in 1993.