9 December 2019, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR’s Division for Multilateral Diplomacy delivered a two-day workshop entitled Business and Human Rights: Key to Achieving the SDGs on the 5th and 6th of December at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, with some 60 participants from governments, business, civil society and other stakeholders. The overall objective of the workshop was to help participants gain a thorough understanding of the Business and Human Rights agenda and provide leadership perspectives on the potential and challenges to implement the UN Guiding Principles as an essential means to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

21 November 2019, Geneva, Switzerland - On 21 November 2019, UNITAR hosted the first meeting of UN SDG:Learn Steering Group in Geneva, organized together with the UN System Staff College (UNSSC). The Steering Group is composed of representatives of 51 partner organizations, making up 53 UN SDG:Learn partners in total with UNITAR and UNSSC. The main objective of the meeting was to jointly discuss the ways forward in terms of leveraging UN SDG:Learn to amplify each organizations’ efforts in serving the needs of their target audiences, sharing experiences and innovative approaches on delivering effective learning, as well as promoting synergies across the work of partners on the SDGs.

Strengthening the capacities of the Caribbean SIDS for system-based approaches and integrated policy design in the context of the SDGs

14 November 2019, Geneva, Switzerland – A delegation of Algeria’s Business Leaders Forum (FCE) visited the headquarter of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva to discuss the organizations’ partnership and identify concrete activities in the near future. The FCE delegation consisted of Mr. Mohamed Sami Agli, President, and Mr. Mehdi Bendimerad, Vice-President. UNITAR was represented by Mr. Nikhil Seth, Executive Director, Mr. Alex Mejia, Division Director, and Mr. Mohand Cherifi, Senior Adviser.

November 2019, Geneva, Switzerland - What would be key elements to consider in the management of international waters? Is the way in which women and men interact with water resources relevant? Check out a new free e-learning module on gender and international waters to understand why it is important to engage both women and men to foster a more equitable and sustainable water resource use for everybody. 

11-13 November 2019, Madrid & Malaga, Spain – UNITAR convened the sixteenth annual steering committee meeting of its global network of affiliated training centres to review past performance and achievements, as well as to discuss work plans for the following year, explore synergies amongst CIFAL centres and other units of UNITAR. The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR, who highlighted the importance of working with local authorities globally to resonate and act upon the mandate of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its SDGs.

5 November 2019, Geneva, Switzerland- UNITAR, in partnership with Kudelski Security, was pleased to provide a face-to-face training workshop to officials from governments, academia and international NGOs in the context of the Geneva Peace Week 2019. The workshop’s content was Diplomacy 4.0, UNITAR’s new concept addressing the intersection between diplomacy and recent technological and scientific advances. It came just weeks after UNITAR launched its new e-Learning course on Diplomacy 4.0, encompassing modules on neoteric diplomats, digital diplomacy, cyber security, artificial intelligence, internet governance and science diplomacy.

30 October 2019, Baku, Azerbaijan - Through a project entitled “Capacity Building in Nigeria's Oil & Gas Industry”, which is implemented by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), seven Nigerian students are given the opportunity to pursue a bachelor's degree at Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS), a leading university in Azerbaijan.

May – July 2019, Cotonou, Bénin - As part of the implementation of the National Learning Strategy on Climate Change, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Benin, with the support of UNESCO, organized the first edition of the School Competition on Climate Change for students between 10 and 15 years of age.

22 October 2019, New York, USA – UNITAR jointly with the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Atlanta (CIFAL Atlanta) hosted 50 Academic Fellows from the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). The Fellows visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York to learn about UNITAR’s capacity building initiatives in support of sustainable development and to hear insights from a private sector executive on how to build partnership to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).