"Smarter partnerships in a complex world: the potential of MDG 8"
20 September, 10 am – 2:30 pm, Conference Room 5, North Lawn Building, UN Headquarters“

“Reduce the fear of migration by 50% until 2015”. Could this be a migration related Millennium Development Goal (MDG)?  While it seems rather unlikely that the international community will agree on international targets when it comes to migration in the near future, it is clear that human mobility and the achievement of the MDGs are related.

This September 4 2010, UNITAR became the newest UN institution to become a member of UN Water during the coordinating platform’s thirteenth meeting.  Joining the platform will provide UNITAR with the opportunity to coordinate its capacity development, research and training activities on water and sanitation with other UN institutions as well as add value to the platform in a number of ways.

 In 2007, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and UNITAR agreed to launch a joint e-Learning initiative in the area of economic development and trade in order to better meet the urgent capacity development needs of French-speaking developing countries. The first joint online course was held in April 2007 and generated a thundering response with over 1,000 nominations submitted for 125 seats in the course.

Carlos Fuentes, world renowned Mexican writer, and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Turkish scholar and Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, are the guest speakers of the next edition of the Geneva Lecture Series to take place on 16 September 2010, at the Palais des Nations. This 5th lecture followed by an open debate with the Geneva public will focus on the following subject: “Building bridges: intercultural dialogue, identities and migration”.

On the 28th of June 2010 seven participants from Egi Land in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria attended a five-day intensive training course to develop regional Master Trainers on Micro-Enterprise Acceleration (MAP). The training seeks to provide the trainees with key technical and facilitation skills, as well as the knowledge necessary to implement the MAP curriculum.

A New York Times article dated 20 August 2010 uses analysis released by UNOSAT, UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme. The article, focused on the worsening situation in flood affected Pakistan, reports “Millions have been left homeless by flooding that extends across Pakistan.

As the number of people affected by the floods in Pakistan increases, UNOSAT received additional requests from the Pakistani government and international humanitarian organisations to expand its analysis and mapping efforts.