UNITAR Executive Director Carlos Lopes (shown in the photo on the left, front left) and the High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres (front right) signed a comprehensive agreement concerning the support to be provided by UNITAR

Washington DC, 20 February 2011 – The Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) hosted a session on “Joining Forces in Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction” dedicated to the partnership model launched by UNOSAT, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (

With support provided by the Swiss Development Cooperation, UN CC:Learn will be in a position to support three Pilot Projects on Strengthening Human Resources, Learning and Skills Development to Address Climate Change in 2011-2012.

Coming from Iraq, Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Liberia, to the Middle East, Central Asia, East Timor and Haiti, the heads of the United Nations Peace Operations around the world gathered in Switzerland 10 to 12 February 2011 for the annual Seminar for Special and Personal Representa

More than 1,000 participants from both the private and public sector from Africa and other parts of the world participated in the second Africa Carbon Forum that took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010, pointing to the immense interest for Clean Development Mechanism projects and the potential for carbon markets and trading in Africa.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR’s) Multilateral Diplomacy Programme (MDP) organized an interactive two half days workshop on Mediation and Consensus Building for Efficient Diplomacy on 9 and 10 February in Geneva.

Thousands of official and unofficial, formal and informal meetings take place at the United Nations and its related bodies and agencies. Representatives within the United Nations system as well as from governments and other bodies such as international and non-governmental organizations must be able to operate in a professional manner in such a multilateral environment.

From 31 January to 1 February 2011, UNITAR’s Board of Trustees met in Geneva for its 50th regular session.

From 28 February to 25 March 2011, participants from all over the world are invited to attend this four week online course, to be delivered via UNITAR’s e-learning platform. Last year more than 100 participants coming from 54 different countries attended this e-learning course. During the evaluation 91 % of the respondents considered that the course was relevant for their job and that they would recommend it to their colleagues.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR’s) Multilateral Diplomacy Programme (MDP) is pleased to announce a number of new 2011 face-to-face executive training courses. These Geneva-based activities are open to diplomats, UN staff, and senior executives from the private sector. They are therefore not exclusive and open to all interested individuals.