21 July 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR invites Ukrainian women refugees in Poland and internally displaced women in Ukraine to apply for a free digital upskilling and reskilling programme designed to strengthen career opportunities in technology, remote work and entrepreneurship.

UNITAR Launches the Inaugural United Nations Chemicals and Waste Management Study Programme in Geneva

21 July 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR invites 500 motivated learners of all genders, aged 18 and above, living in or from Pacific Island countries and territories or the Asia-Pacific to apply for the Japan-funded “UNITAR Women’s Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction Training Programme for World Tsunami Awareness Day 2026– Building Economies and Livelihood Resilient to the Global Shocks”. The programme will equip the participants with lifelong skills in disaster risk reduction and inclusive leadership. The deadline for applications is 21 August 2026 (11:59 p.m. JST [UTC+9]).

20 July 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - Held at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 13–14 July 2026, the Fellowship Programme and Graduation of the Safe Mobility 4 All & 4 Life (SM4A4L) Initiative for Asia-Pacific marked the culmination of months of learning, mentoring and cross-sector collaboration amongst road safety practitioners, government officials and international experts from the region.

20 July 2026, New York, United States of America – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) convened the 2026 SDGs in Practice special event on the margins of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), bringing together representatives from governments, the United Nations system, academia, civil society and the private sector to examine practical approaches for accelerating implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Zarif Ludin, originally from Afghanistan, is Head of Institutional Partnerships at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He completed the UNITAR Executive Master’s Degree Programme in 2016. Since then, he has been applying his skills in advancing public financial management systems globally through the accountancy profession. Recently, he helped bring about the new partnership between ACCA and UNITAR, through which the two entities plan to jointly design, deliver and scale practical learning pathways in finance, sustainability, digital innovation, entrepreneurship, public financial management, ethics and value creation.

9 July 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – On 7 July 2026, UNITAR welcomed 1,114 participants from across all 11 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to the UNITAR Green Economic Acceleration: A Japan–ASEAN Strategic Programme for Sustainable Green Finance. The programme aims to strengthen Japan–ASEAN cooperation in sustainable finance and build regional capacity to design, finance and advance bankable green economy projects. It will run until February 2027 in three progressively selective phases, with the generous funding from the Government and People of Japan.

25–26 June 2026, Curitiba, Brazil — Over the course of two days, the Campus da Indústria in Curitiba welcomed nearly 150 students from across the state of Paraná for SESIMUN 2026, a Model United Nations simulation organized by SESI School with the support of CIFAL Curitiba and the International Cooperation Office of Sistema Fiep. The event transformed the campus into a vibrant space for diplomacy, debate, and global citizenship, offering many participants their first opportunity to engage with international relations. For all of them, it was a meaningful learning experience that will help shape how they understand and address global challenges in the years ahead.

9 July 2026, Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a structured cooperative framework aimed at supporting the professional development of postal sector stakeholders, including governments, and national postal operators across UN Member States.

8 July 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in collaboration with the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Shanghai (CIFAL Shanghai), welcomed a delegation of students from schools partnered with CIFAL Shanghai to Geneva for the 2026 UN Sustainable Development Goals Youth Empowerment Seminar for Change-Makers. The two-day seminar provided participants with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the United Nations, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the role of youth in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

Through a combination of expert lectures, interactive discussions and student presentations, the programme encouraged participants to reflect on global challenges, explore practical ways to contribute to sustainable development, and enhance key leadership and communication skills needed to drive positive change in their communities.