27 January 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Between 18-27 January 2021, UNITAR, UNESCAP, UNDP, and UNDESA jointly organized a Subregional Introductory Training for Countries of North and Central Asia on Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFF) for Sustainable Recovery from the COVID-19 Crisis and for Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

With the beginning of the decade of delivery for the 2030 Agenda, mobilisation of finance for the SDGs remains a challenge. The Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disruption it has caused has exacerbated this challenge and threatened the trajectories of countries’ long-term development plan. As the focus now begins to turn towards ensuring a sustainable recovery from the economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the training aimed to share knowledge and build capacity within the INFF steering committees and core ministries of the nine North and Central Asian countries on how to design and implement a coordinated approach to financing the 2030 and Addis Ababa Action Agendas. Participants included members of ministries of finance, economy, labour, environment and health, as well as think tanks, NGOs, Parliament, UN organization and academia.

26 January 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - On 18 March, UNITAR and the Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative, host the third Geneva Trialogue edition, under the theme of ”Scaling Open Innovation for the SDGs“.

14 December 2020, New York, USA (Virtual) – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research New York Office successfully launched the first day of a three-day virtual seminar with its event partners, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and Generation Amazing. Generation Amazing is an organization geared toward youth that uses football to encourage sustainable development, specifically through the principles of gender equality, inclusivity, teamwork and leadership, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha. This seminar was designed by UNITAR for Generation Amazing’s Youth Advocates, who are a group of young Qataris and non-Qatari residents living and studying in Doha. The first day of the three sessions of the seminar was attended by 15 Young Leaders and will continue through 16 December 2020.

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.

11 December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - On three dates in December 2020 (7, 10, 11), UNITAR and UN Statistics Division hosted an online workshop for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on the uses and applications of the updated StaTact online tool for resolving short-term tactical data problems.

3 December 2020, New York, United States (Virtual) – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office, along with the Columbia Law School, hosted the “amplification strategies for diplomatic leadership” workshop on Thursday, 3 December 2020. The workshop was the third endowment of the training series presented by the two entities, and 233 participants joined the session virtually from different parts of the world and was supported with funding allocated from the Swedish International Development Agency’s (SIDA) contribution to the UNITAR Strategic Framework Fund, under the programme ‘Leveling The Playing Field’ which focuses on the development of skills and knowledge of Least Developing Countries.

26 November 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, UNITAR and the International Ocean Institute launched the Online Diploma on Ocean Governance for Sustainable Marine Ecosystems.

04 November 2020, New York, USA (Virtual) - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office (NYO) launched its series with Columbia Law School on Mediation, Conflict Resolution and Negotiation 2020. This activity is supported with funding allocated from the Swedish International Development Agency’s (SIDA) contribution to the UNITAR Strategic Framework.

19 October 2020, New York, USA. – In parallel with the environmental objectives set forth by the United Nations as it celebrates its historic 75th Anniversary, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office and the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy hosted a training workshop for UN delegates and interested participants, entitled “Achieving Sustainability Through Metrics” on 15 October 2020. As with the other workshops, this session took place in an online format attracting over 60 participants from all over the world.

5 October 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR, in partnership with the Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative, the University of Geneva and the Tsinghua University, launch the SDG Innovation Bootcamps, a series of short programmes (online or hybrid) aimed at a new generation of impact entrepreneurs, willing to collectively act in order to identify, delineate and address outstanding challenges for the SDGs, through open innovation.