Building up on the Institute’s commitment to excellence in innovative capacity-building for leaders of all sectors, UNITAR welcomed an international audience of participants to its first edition of the Extended Diplomatic Skills: Core Hospitality Skills training course.

18 December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland and Georgetown, Guyana – The Flood Forecasting System, under the project “Strengthening Women’s Disaster Management Capacities in Guyana and Dominica” funded by the Government of Japan and led by UNDP Guyana, was implemented by UNOSAT in close collaboration with CIMA Research Foundation. This is the first of two components of the “Development of Guyana National Flood Early Warning System (NFEWS)“ initiative supported by the Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana (Hydromet).

December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – Between 2017 and 2019, UNOSAT has been committed to supporting the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) to build resilience to the many hazards the country is exposed to, namely floods and tropical storms. The situation is especially urgent as Lao PDR is particularly vulnerable to these threats, as it is ranked one of the poorest or least developed countries in the Asia Pacific region.

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.

04 December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s Road Safety Global Training Initiative and the International Road Federation (IRF) partnered to deliver a series of Master Classes on the “Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit” in the framework of regional conferences.

24 November 2020, Bonn, Germany - UNITAR/United Nations University present an in-depth review on the WEEE Collection Rates in the EU-28, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, which shows that the implementation mechanisms of WEEE legislation, such as the ‘all actors’ approach, a clearing house, and mandatory handover positively contribute to WEEE collection. In 2018, 55% of WEEE has been reported and collected to the WEEE Directive, at least 20% of WEEE has been traced to be in other WEEE Flows, such as illegal exports of WEEE, exports for reuse, mixed with metal scrap and in residual solid waste. The whereabouts to 25% of the WEEE is still unknown.

24 November 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR and Diageo, a global leader in the beverage industry, renew and expand their collaborative agreement to strengthen institutional capacity through training and efforts to change attitudes and behaviour to road safety laws and law enforcement.

UNOSAT delivered a week-long training in Serrekunda, The Gambia, on the use of Earth Observation (EO) and GIT applications to 18 November 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – support operational planning and decision-making for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience to government officials in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) and the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries.

17 November 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s Road Safety Global Training Initiative successfully launched the Learning App on Management Practices for Safer Roads, with the aim of providing in-hand practical solutions, participatory contributions from different stakeholders including the private sector, and results-based interventions.

16 November 2020, Dakar, Senegal – To join the global activities during the World Day of Remembrance, UNITAR and the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL) in Dakar, in partnership with the Municipality of Dakar, and with the support of Diageo inaugurated on 16 November 2020 the training course “High Visibility Enforcement Interventions: Law Enforcement to Reduce Road Traffic Crashes related to Drivers using Alcohol”.