Module 4 "Measuring the state of the oceans" of the UNEP-UNSIAP-UNITAR Massive Open Online Course is offered as a stand-alone module with a certificate of completion. The module explains the importance of measuring the state of oceans and describes various challenges that countries and the international community are facing in monitoring the state of oceans overall. It also discusses international plans for sustainable development that cover oceans and incorporate specific action plans in monitoring their state. It provides an overview of SDG 14 with detailed methodologies for calculating four indicators that are under UNEP custodianship, namely SDG indicator 14.1.1a, SDG indicator 14.1.1b, SDG indicator 14.2.1, and SDG Indicator 14.5.1. Additionally, the module briefly describes two non-UNEP indicators that are related to oceans – SDG indicator 14.3.1 and 14.4.1.

30 January – 3 February 2023, New York, USA — The UNITAR office in New York has successfully concluded the second week of training for the PGA Fellowship. The training took place at the United Nations Secretariat building with two sessions per day, totaling 20 sessions within two weeks. Each session was led by high-level United Nations officials and experts, handpicked by UNITAR NYO for their expertise on each specific subject area.

23-25 January 2023, New York, USA - The series of training for the 2023 PGA Fellowship Programme started Monday, 23 January, with an Introduction to the Security Council and Principal Organs led by Dr Angel Angelov, Consul General to Bulgaria and Former Deputy Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the United Nations. To open the training sessions, Head of UNITAR Office in New York, Mr. Marco Suazo gave opening remarks to the fellows and introduced Dr Angelov before the session started.

17 January 2023, New York, USA – UNITAR office in New York kickstarts the 2023 PGA Fellowship Programme with a meeting between H.E. Mr Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, and this year’s fellows, who recently arrived in New York City to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime experience with the United Nations.

Over the past months, UNITAR has been supporting UN Statistics Division (UNSD) in developing an e-version of the Handbook on Management and Organization of National Statistical Systems. It is launched now and available on UNSD's website.

UN SDG:Learn is featuring a new tool “Changemaker Scan” developed by Ubiquity University. It is a self-appraisal for you to build your changemaker profile in 8 SDG cross-cutting competencies defined by UNESCO! Go to your dashboard to try it now or register on the platform here: www.unsdglearn.org/register

"Government officials were able to see the complexity and the integrated nature of all sectors. How, for instance, a change in tourism policies affects environmental policies, food production policies and so on. It also gave insights into the positive impact of fine-tuning some policies."

27 October, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR, the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS), and the Taylor Institute at Franklin University Switzerland (FUS), collaborate on National Competitiveness Report and Nations Brand Value Ranking Report. The results of the Reports were released on October 27, 2022, in a public conference by IPS and FUS, and co-hosted by UNITAR.

26 October 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR, Franklin University Switzerland, and Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) Switzerland sign Memorandum of Understanding to establish the first SDG Management School in Geneva.

Citizen science data (CSD) presents untapped opportunities to track progress towards the SDGs offering multiple advantages for Governments and National Statistical Offices (NSOs): help fill in data gaps for indicators where traditional data collection instruments, such as, household surveys or administrative registers may not be well suited or may not have the sufficient coverage, improve the granularity of data and sometimes timeliness, and offer an effective and cost-efficient means for NSOs to address data needs of policy-makers in the context of limited or falling resources. Many citizen science data initiatives and datasets exist already. Why then have NSOs not been using citizen science data to any large extent to date? To begin with, NSOs require a better understanding of how such data can be useful in their specific context and requirements, as well as understanding what exactly needs to be done to leverage it. Citizen science practitioners, for their part, need to better understand policy applications and know how to ensure that the generated data meets necessary quality standards. This Policy Brief aims to bring greater understanding to these issues by drawing on a research conducted as part of the EU-funded Crowd4SDG project with contributions from several international organizations and research centers. It shows how NSOs can give value to CSD benefitting official statistics, policy-making and citizen science communities and helping ensure that no one is left behind.