16-18 April 2012, Niamey, Republic of Niger – In the framework of the project “Enabling Activities for the Development of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) Implementation Plan within an Integrated National Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals in the Republic of Niger”, a National Forum on Governance and Priority Setting for SAICM Implementation was held from 16 to 18 April 2012 with the participation of UNITAR.

30 July to 28 September 2012, Social Media tools, e-learning course

UNITAR is pleased to announce the opening of registrations of the sixth session of the Innovative Collaboration for Development course from 30 July to 28 September 2012.

23 April 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) - The UNITAR Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting of UAE Foreign Aid Workshop, is taking place between 22 and 25 April. It was officially opened by H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Aljowaid, Foreign Aid Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE-MOFA).

13 April 2012, Geneva, Switzerland - The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) reached another milestone today as the second generation of its Satellite Mapping Coordination System (SMCS) was officially launched.

UNITAR Executive Director, Mr. Carlos Lopes was recently appointed the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA.

UNOSAT released in March 2012 the latest version of its annual thematic brief, which is dedicated to “Satellite Applications for Human Security”.  Each year, UNOSAT publishes a brief focusing on one of its strategic areas of work (humanitarian relief, human security, strategic territorial planning).  Last year the UNOSAT Brief concentrated on Humanitarian Rapid Mapping, the service launched in 2003 that made UNOSAT known worldwide for its rapid mapping support to the international humanitarian community.

10 April 2012, Montevideo, Uruguay – The Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay (LATU) and the Basel Convention Coordinating Center-Stockholm Convention Regional Center for the Latin America and Caribbean in early 2012, signed a joint agreement to promote training and capacity building for the development of a nano-safety pilot project in Uruguay, financially supported by the Government of Switzerland.

8 March 2012- Johannesburg, South Africa: During the National Occupational Health and Safety Conference at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre, South Africa from 6 to 9 March 2012, a one-day seminar on the Globally Harmonized System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was held. The seminar was organized by the Department of Labour of South Africa in association with UNITAR/ILO.

3 April 2012, Seoul, South Korea – Assistant Secretary-General and UNITAR Executive Director, Carlos Lopes visited top officials of the Republic of Korea this week to pledge UNITAR’s support for building capacities of all countries in the area of Green Growth, thereby reinforcing Korea’s leading efforts in this field.

5 April 2012, Jeju, South Korea – UNITAR’s Centre for Training Local Authorites (CIFAL Jeju) in South Korea completed on Friday March 30, its second workshop in the field of human trafficking, titled “Enhancing Human Security: Developing Capacities to Protect and Assist Victims of Human Trafficking”.