The recently-held 2009 UNITAR Regional Training was organized in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Thirty eight mid and senior-level government officials, senior advisors to presidents and prime ministers, as well as African Union and UN peace operation staff on the continent took part. Participants engaged in conflict analysis, negotiation and mediation simulations. Case studies examined peacemaking processes in Somalia, Sudan and other regions.

As a transmission channel for new thinking within and beyond the UN, and as unique partners at the interface of policy and operational worlds, the seven UN Research and Training Institutes, namely INSTRAW, UNICRI, UNIDIR, UNITAR, UNRISD, UNSSC and

UNOSAT and UNICRI decided to formalise their collaboration in a recent exchange of letters.
 

On 2 March 2009, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Edwin N. Forlemu, ACBF Executive Secretary a.i., signed on behalf of ACBF and Carlos Lopes, United nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UNITAR, signed on behalf of UNITAR.

As part of a joint ongoing UNITAR/IDI/UNCTAD Global Project to train Public Debt Audit Officials in ‘Auditing Public Debt Management’, a survey was conducted (February 2009) to assess the feasibility of using distance learning and e-Learning as part of the training process. The survey questionnaire was sent to Sovereign Audit Institutions (SAIs) of 28 developing and emerging economies with a view to study the e-Learning readiness of these institutions.

6 April 2009
Nairobi, Kenya

With outreach, cost-effectiveness and flexibility in mind, UNITAR will use its time-tested and innovative methodology of e-Learning (online training) to train public finance officials from Ibero-American nations.
In the coming months, UNITAR will develop and deploy four six-week e-Learning courses, on themes including negotiation skills, intellectual property and capital markets. These will be offered for free to the public sector, civil society and academic institutions, thanks to generous support from the Spanish government.

Following the partnership, signed on 21 April 2009, between the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), it was agreed that UNITAR will receive fresh graduates from the university and provide them with an opportunity for a first international working experience in the United Nations specialized body in training and research.
UNITAR’s International Law Programme is pleased to welcome the first collaborator from the Universidad de Zaragoza.

Under this joint effort, UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) will build upon the training resources (case studies and exercises) developed under the UNITAR administered project, Climate Change Capacity Development (C3D) to develop a joint module on vulnerability and impact assessment.

Building for Peace 
Launch of the International Architectural Prize in Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Hiroshima, 24 April 2009
An initiative by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL)
and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)