31 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Open Geneva Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the education and practice of open innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland and Beijing, China - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the University of Geneva and the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set global standards for SDG Education and Open Innovation.

27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - On 27 and 28 September 2021, the University Global Coalition, in partnership with the United Nations, under UNITAR's continuous support and ongoing partnership, will host its second annual conference, successively after its first online gathering in 2020. UNITAR stands among the founding signatory members of the Coalition, and is represented in its Steering Committee by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth.

26 March 2021, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR and Franklin University Switzerland (FUS) – a Swiss-American accredited liberal arts University in Lugano, Switzerland – hosted a three-day online hackathon event during the Open Geneva Hackathon Festival.

UNITAR is pleased to announce the launch of the new partnership with the Geneva Macro Labs, a Geneva-based Think and Do Tank with the goal to shape international collaboration, build capacity and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

21 March 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Building on the successful experience of the pilot training held for North and Central Asian countries in January 2021, UNITAR, ESCAP, UNDP, and UNDESA have teamed up - in collaboration with the country-led platform Asia-Pacific SDG Finance Facility (APFIN) - to create a knowledge sharing and learning space for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences related to strengthening INFFs and to learn about possible approaches and steps for choosing the right approach to align budgets with the SDGs. 

Together with ADN Group, UNITAR is organizing the second edition of World Negotiation Day on 9 March 2021. The event will bring together some of the world’s top negotiators from the public and private sectors – ambassadors, leaders, and executives – who have shaped some of the pivotal events of 2020.

11-14 January 2021, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – A group of 97 senior officials and ambassadors from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change engaged in a four-day UNITAR High-Level e-Workshop to improve their skills and knowledge in environmental diplomacy, in the lead-up to this year’s Conference of Parties (COP26). The activity was made possible with the financial support of SIDA, Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation.

26 January 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - On 18 March, UNITAR and the Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative, host the third Geneva Trialogue edition, under the theme of ”Scaling Open Innovation for the SDGs“.

UNITAR and UN CC:Learn joined forces to deliver the Online Training Programme on Climate Change Diplomacy, at which 35 Kenyan diplomats, government officials, and civil society representatives were trained on climate diplomacy. The training took place between 13 November and 8 December 2020 and provided participants with knowledge on climate change and climate diplomacy, building their capacity for the upcoming climate negotiations at COP 26.