29 - 30 November 2012, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – A National Forum on Governance and Priority Setting for SAICM Implementation was held in the Dominican Republic from 29 to 30 November 2012. The workshop was held under the framework of a national project for the implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), and consisted of a review of the progress made to date, establishing priorities for national chemicals management, and preparing action plans for selected priorities.

6 December 2012 - Tropical storm Bopha (Pablo locally) cut through the Philippines on 5 December causing death and destruction so intense that it is difficult to assess them with traditional methods.  During the passage of the storm, thousands of people in the affected region have exchanged images, footage and comments regarding its impact. However the data is not always geo-tagged and the sheer amount of messages makes it impossible for one entity to sort information.

Geneva, Switzerland, December 2012 - From August 2011 to September 2012, mercury releases inventories were developed in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, South

According to the 2012 World Disasters Report, recently released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), over 72 million people are forcibly displaced due to a range of complex drivers including conflict and violence, disasters, political upheaval and even by large-scale development projects. An estimated 20 million among these migrants are living in a state of prolonged displacement.

3 December 2012, Hiroshima, Japan - On the strength of its long-running Series on Sea and Human Security, the UNITAR Hiroshima Office is co-sponsoring the Second Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Blue Economy Forum, being held in Tianjin, China, on December 6 - 7 2012.
Organized by the State Oceanic Administration of China, the Forum is co-sponsored also by:

November 2012, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR’s Multilateral Diplomacy Programme has published the list of e-Learning courses available in 2013.
MDP’s new courses can be found on the e-Learning calendar for 2013.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to take UNITAR's courses, such as "Introduction to the United Nation System" or "Multilateral Conferences and Diplomacy", you will have the chance at the beginning of 2013.

14 November 2012, Geneva, Switzerland  - GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, is each year a less mysterious term also thanks to initiatives like GIS-Day.

Hiroshima, Japan, 22 November 2012: The UNITAR Hiroshima office is proud to be hosting 35 representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at a week long capacity-development workshop examining Public Financial Management.

22 November 2012, Geneva, Switzerland - “Citizen Cyberscience is a tremendous opportunity for scientists in developing regions, because it offers them valuable support from thousands of volunteers, and enhanced global exposure for their research. Projects like ForestWatchers in Brazil are trailblazing what we think will become a global trend”.