18 April 2026, Siegen, Germany — In a working visit that signals a new chapter for the CIFAL Dakar Centre, Mayor Abass Fall, Chairperson of CIFAL Dakar, traveled to Germany accompanied by the Director of this CIFAL Centre, Mr. Mouhamed Diop, to explore one of the world's most celebrated models of technical and vocational education. The mission, centred on Germany's renowned Duale Ausbildung, the dual education system marks a significant strategic milestone in the Mayor's broader vision for a more modern, inclusive, and opportunity-driven Dakar.
Officially installed as Mayor in September 2025, Mr Abass Fall has outlined four strategic priorities: making Dakar an economically and socially inclusive city, an international capital, a hub of creativity and digital innovation, and a smart city focused on sustainability and quality of life. The visit to Germany is a direct expression of these priorities in action. The question put forward was how to build a training ecosystem that genuinely connects young people to economic opportunities is not abstract, it is one of the most consequential governance challenges Mayor Fall's administration faces.

15 April 2026, London, United Kingdom - Against a backdrop of mounting urgency around food security, sustainability, and behavioral change, CIFAL London has launched a purpose-built Hackathon to channel the creative and analytical energy of participants toward one of the most pressing, and most preventable challenges of our time: household food waste. Designed as a high-impact applied learning intervention, the event tasks interdisciplinary teams with moving from systemic understanding to concrete action, producing scalable, real-world solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.

Baku, Azerbaijan, 15 April 2026 — What began in 2023 as a landmark initiative to bridge the gender gap in technology across Türkiye has now crossed a national border. The Equal Opportunity in Technology programme arrived in Azerbaijan, reaching university students and educators for the first time and marking a significant milestone in the regional expansion of one of the most ambitious women's digital empowerment programmes to emerge from the Türkiye–UN partnership ecosystem.

10 April 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - The 43rd UN-Water Meeting, held on 24–26 March 2026 at the headquarters of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, brought together the largest-ever gathering of UN-Water Members and Partners, country representatives, and senior leaders to accelerate progress on global water and sanitation goals. UNITAR played an active and visible role across two of the meeting's key agenda items, reinforcing its growing engagement in the UN system's coordinated response to the water crisis.

10 April 2026, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s affiliated International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Poland (CIFAL Płock) concluded a series of training workshops for local and regional law enforcement agencies in Poland aimed at strengthening their capacities to implement the Autosobriety Training Programme to Prevent Drink-Driving.

8 April 2026, Incheon, Republic of Korea – UNITAR and its International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL) Jeju are pleased to collaborate with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Northeast Asia Office and Global Education and Training Institute (ONEA-GETI), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG), the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) to offer a three-day virtual training workshop titled “Strengthening Whole-of-Society Capacities for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Resilience: Inclusive Governance and Innovative Mechanisms”

2 April 2026, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR and the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP) have formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop individual and institutional capacities within the postal sector.

30 March 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited (Intas) have agreed to collaborate on the expansion of the Plasma4Life initiative to India. Building on Plasma4Life’s ongoing activities in Argentina and Malaysia, this next phase aims to support national efforts to strengthen systems related to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs) and improve sustainable and cost-effective access for patients in India.

27 March 2026, Geneva, Switzerland - CIFAL Málaga is one of the 32 UNITAR-affiliated training centres part of the CIFAL Global Network operating across 5 continents. Its mandate is to develop and strengthen human capacities to better address development challenges. CIFAL centres function as knowledge transfer hubs, connecting public institutions, private sector actors, and civil society around shared development challenges.

26 March 2026, Mérida, Mexico - The twenty-first International Hurricane Seminar concluded successfully, bringing together 290 in-person attendees and more than 1,600 virtual participants from across the region. Over two days of high-level discussions, technical workshops, and institutional collaboration, the event solidified its standing as a premier platform for strengthening disaster preparedness and operational resilience within the airport sector.

The seminar's opening ceremony was presided over by Yucatán State Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena, who underscored the critical importance of fostering a culture of prevention and reinforcing coordination among government authorities, the private sector, and international organizations. His remarks set a clear target: proactive collaboration, not reactive response, must define how institutions confront the growing threat of extreme meteorological events.

Mérida Municipal President Cecilia Patrón also took the stage to reaffirm her municipality's commitment to risk management and civil protection. Her participation reflected the broad institutional buy-in that has come to characterize the seminar over its two decades of history. It is an event that spans not only the aviation sector but engages the full ecosystem of emergency management stakeholders.