Dr. Jane Goodall, the keynote speaker of the 4th edition of the Geneva Lecture Series that took place on 26 May at the Palais des Nations, urged the current generation to stop borrowing from the future generations and to change its ways before it is too late. Pointing to the sometimes pessimistic attitudes among youth, Dr. Goodall explained, “When I think about how we have harmed the planet since I was their age, I feel this desperation and shame. We have compromised their future. But it’s not true that there’s nothing that can be done about it”.

NEW YORK, 26 May (UNITAR) — Today, the Olof Palme Memorial Fund, Sweden, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) are launching the 2010 Negotiation Training Series “Towards a level playing field”, aimed at enhancing diplomats’ negotiation skills.  With the generous support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, this Series marks the fourth year of collaboration between the Olof Palme Memorial Fund and UNITAR.

In furtherance to the UNITAR/ Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) (www.nddc.gov.ng) partnership and the release of 70% of the pledged counterpart fund for the implementation of the UNITAR/NDDC agreed work plan, a training workshop on Leadership and Management was executed in February, 2010. This pragmatic capacity building workshop aimed at initiating and developing, in Senior Commission Officials, a comprehensive view of the overall people management function and of the leadership role and its responsibilities.

After years of successful research and applications in the area of geospatial information for humanitarian aid and emergency response, UNOSAT has acquired considerable technological and inter-agency knowledge in this complex and often misunderstood activity field.

UNOSAT supports the international humanitarian community since 2003, when it launched a Rapid Mapping Service, available 24/7 to UN and non-UN humanitarian entities responding to natural disasters and complex emergencies. The service provides maps and geospatial analysis on demand in the context of rapid response and it is funded by donor countries anxious to extend t the humanitarians the benefit of satellite technology.

The 2nd Yale/UNITAR Global Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy will take place at Yale University, New Haven, USA from 17-19 September 2010 in the margins of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal Summit, 20-22 September, New York.