15 June 2021, Georgetown, Guyana - The current floods situation in Guyana are representative of a recurring threat to the country’s development. Prone to heavy rains leading to overflowing of its rivers, Guyana’s agricultural sector is constantly affected disaster-related damages, and the local communities are vulnerable to food insecurity because of the damages to land, assets, and infrastructure.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted an historic resolution for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and in particular for its Operational Satellite Applications Programme - UNOSAT.

7 June 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Starting in February 2018, with an initial one-year scoping period, the project built off in-depth user-needs analyses to fully launch the implementation phase in February 2019. Now that the project has matured, this IPP Case Study seeks to assess early results and outcomes of the consortium’s activities and outputs.

4 June 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - The Nyiragongo volcano, situated north east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started erupting on 22nd May at night. UNOSAT’s rapid mapping service was activated on 23 May 2021 morning by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Goma, DRC. The activation covered the area around Goma, DRC, and Gisenyi, Rwanda.

27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland and Beijing, China - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the University of Geneva and the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set global standards for SDG Education and Open Innovation.

28 April 2021, Georgetown, Guyana - On 25 March 2021, UNITAR-UNOSAT hosted and co-facilitated together with UNDP Guyana and CIMA, an online Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) Awareness Raising Workshop with a focus on flood early warning communication.

26 April 2021, New York, United States of America and Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Joint Action Plan to strengthen cooperation in IsDB member countries.

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.

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.

12 avril 2021, Brazzaville, République du Congo – Du 25 février au 31 mars 2021, UNITAR-UNOSAT a livré une formation en ligne au bénéfice de la République du Congo. Cette formation, animée par des facilitateurs, avait pour but de transmettre aux participants les concepts et la terminologie de la technologie de l'information géospatiale (TIG) ainsi que des méthodologies géospatiales pour soutenir les opérations de réponse d'urgence et le processus de décision lors de catastrophes humanitaires.