The new training programme is part of UNITAR’s comprehensive Digital Finance Initiative, which aims at supporting training for emerging innovations in trade and finance.

The conference generated forward-looking and future-oriented discussions on the future of finance in the context of the latest FinTech innovations, best practices of digitalizing monetary policy and currencies from the regulatory perspective, and the potential of digital innovations in accelerating sustainable development. UNITAR partnered with such distinguished entities for this event as the Asian Development Bank, Deloitte Switzerland, Geneva Finance Research Institute of the University of Geneva, Instimatch Global, National Bank of Hungary, SIX Digital Exchange and Swiss Finance and Technology Association.

UNITAR’s Digital Finance Initiative aims to leverage the digital age by harnessing innovation and scaling financial inclusion to support the achievement of the SDGs.

May 4, 2021, New York, USA.- The Head of the UNITAR Office in New York, Mr. Marco Suazo, participated in the side event entitled “Building an Effective Way Forward for Indigenous Peoples to Participate and Contribute with their Knowledge and Experience” in the framework of the 6th Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs.

3 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland –UNITAR is launching its 6-week online training programme “Leading Inclusive 4IR: Empowering Women in Afghanistan for the Future of Work through Digital Reskilling” on 31 May 2021. UNITAR is currently accepting applications until 26 May 2021. Participants will learn skills to excel in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) while being empowered to take the lead. Conducted in English, the course will cover programming and coding skills, digital literacy, application development, cybersecurity and AI training, and combine it with gender leadership empowerment training. During the final week, there will be an online hackathon to test participant’s skills.

27 April 2021, Kabul, Afghanistan / Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR Division for Prosperity and Afghanistan's first think-tank Capacity for Afghanistan, launched a new partnership. On 22 April 2021, the signing ceremony was held in Kabul. 

21 April 2021, Abu Dhabi, UAE - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is delighted to announce the signing of a joint agreement between Rabdan Academy, UAE, and UNITAR. The MoU was signed at Rabdan Academy’s campus in Abu Dhabi by Mr. James Morse, President of Rabdan Academy, and Mr. Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR. Both partners stressed the importance of joint training and educational efforts to address the challenges facing the UAE and the wider international community.

11 June 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – On 25 March 2021, UNITAR Hiroshima Office, Hiroshima Television Corporation, and UNITAR Association jointly hosted a public online forum “Shaping Our Future: Together Looking to the Future of Sports and Peace 25 Years from Now” to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and to reaffirm the central role of the Social Development Goals (SDGs) and the part sports can play in securing a peaceful future of humankind.

20 April 2021, New York, USA – Mr. Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR, is visiting New York to discuss strategic matters with officials from the United Nations. During his first day, he had a meeting with Mr. Abdel Abdellatif, Director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation. The two discussed the cooperation between both offices through the Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) focusing on the use of maps, reports, and data from satellite images to assess the impact of flooding as the most frequent type of disaster. This initiative is to better support and provide technical assistance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with the cooperation of the Government of India, South Africa, and possibly China.

16 April 2021, New York, USA (Virtual) - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in partnership with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, successfully delivered the workshop entitled “Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting” from 7-8 April 2021. The workshop was attended by 40 participants and focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and the push for companies and investors to remake business models in order to respond to the goals outlined by the SDGs. This workshop is supported under the programme “Levelling the Playing Field”, with funding allocated from the Swedish International Development Agency’s (SIDA) contribution to the UNITAR Strategic Framework Fund.