7 December 2023, Hiroshima, Japan – In May 2023, the G7 Summit was held in Hiroshima, Japan, putting the global spotlight on one of UNITAR’s host cities. Ms. Keiko Ogura, a hibakusha (atomic bombing survivor), who has been an invaluable contributor to UNITAR Hiroshima Office’s training programmes, reflected on her meetings with the G7 leaders at the Summit.

28 November 2023, Geneva, Switzerland – On 9 November 2023, UNITAR Division for Prosperity held a programme launch and orientation for the Japan-funded training programme “Developing Green Livelihoods for Women and Youth in Africa: Strengthening Food Security, Supporting Climate Resilient Economies”. Through the programme, 150 women and youth participants from Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe with a passion for development will gain skills to support climate-resilient economies. It will run from November 2023 to February 2024 and have online and in-person elements.
Guests of the launch and orientation included government officials, programme partners and participants of the new programme.

28 November 2023, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR Division for Prosperity held a launch and orientation for the Japan-funded training programme “Developing Essential Digital Skills for Women and Youth in Africa: Enhancing Employment Opportunities and Livelihood Development in the Digital Economy”. The programme aims to enhance the employability and competitiveness of African women and youth in the global workforce, readying them with the “4th Industrial Revolution (4IR)” and future-of-work digital skills in a digital-driven world. The programme focuses on 24 Anglophone African countries and will run from November 2023 to February 2024.

27 November 2023, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR Division for Prosperity welcomed Ms Jaehyang (Jae) So to its Advisory Board, effective November 2023. Ms. So is the Chair of the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership, a global action network with over 3,000 partner organizations in 179 countries. She worked for 30 years at the World Bank Group on a range of development topics, including infrastructure, water, urban development, gender and public-private partnerships.

24 November 2023, Hiroshima, Japan - On 3 October 2023, UNITAR, in partnership with the University of Geneva, hosted a public forum “Scaling Responsible Entrepreneurship and Solutions to Global Challenges”. The forum was part of UNITAR’s 60th anniversary celebration and featured members of the UNITAR Division for Prosperity Advisory Board.
The event brought together individuals and organizations from all over the world to foster public-private partnerships to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.

• Mr. Tetsuo Kondo joined the Division for Prosperity Advisory Board in August 2023 and brings extensive expertise in the field of international relations with his background as a Japanese diplomat and experience in the United Nations.
• He currently serves as a visiting professor of development and global health policy at Sophia University, University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Nagasaki University, and Kanazawa Institute of Technology.

9 November 2023, Hiroshima, Japan – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima Office welcomes Ms. Chisa Mikami as the new head of the office, effective 8 November 2023. Ms. Mikami has extensive experience working in developing countries through her career with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and brings to the Office her knowledge of the countries that the Hiroshima Office works with.

6 November 2023, Hiroshima, Japan – In September 2023, UNITAR Division for Prosperity signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a well-known organization in the IT industry, Kyiv IT Cluster. The organization will support Ukrainian women evacuees in Poland through collaboration in the UNITAR training programme “Bolstering livelihoods: Digital reskilling for Ukrainian women evacuees in Poland”. The programme will train over 500 Ukrainian women in high-demand digital skills so they can enhance their livelihoods. This is the first UNITAR Division for Prosperity programme to support the evacuees of Ukraine.

31 October 2023, Hiroshima, Japan - In September 2023, UNITAR signed a memorandum of understanding with the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Ukraine to support Ukrainian women evacuees in Poland through a UNITAR digital reskilling training programme. Kyiv Mohyla Academy, whose faculty of computer sciences is well-known for its outstanding programmes in cybersecurity, will contribute its technical expertise to the UNITAR digital reskilling programme.

26 October 2023, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR’s Division for Prosperity launched its training programme “Bolstering livelihoods: Digital reskilling for Ukrainian women evacuees in Poland“ on 16 October 2023 at an event in Warsaw. Guests included government officials, programme partners, academic institutions, and NGOs, as well as several participants of the new training programme.