December 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – Climate vulnerability and food insecurity threaten the already conflict-torn areas in the Middle East and North Africa. In Iraq, infrequent rainfall and rising temperatures in recent years has especially worsened water scarcity. With more than 80 per cent of the country’s water resources being used for agriculture, water scarcity has devastating consequences on the sector that employs 30 per cent of the Iraqi population.

6 November 2022, Hiroshima, Japan - Shumoos Jaber advocates for plant-based solutions to health and climate change in Iraq. Shumoos had become a vegan while she was in Malaysia, where she completed her master’s degree in biotechnology. When she returned to Iraq, she found that plant-based meals were not readily available in the country. This gap in the market sparked the idea that Shumoos transformed into a business over the next few years.

November 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – “My dream is to set up a real pharmaceutical industry in Africa.” Aissata Koné was a participant in the 2021 UNITAR programme on digital skills for youth in the Sahel region. While studying with UNITAR, she understood the importance of digital skills in today’s world.

November 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – The challenges of running a business can discourage many potential entrepreneurs. However, some people rise to the challenge. In the town of Thika in Kiambu County, Kenya, Angeline Mueni Mutuku started her business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seizing opportunities and gaining skills, Angeline continues to grow her business.

November 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – Kefa Akroush (Jordan) and Mireille El Alam (Lebanon) have devoted their careers to erasing gender inequalities in their countries. They gained more tools to help them mainstream gender in their government work by completing the UNITAR Gender Empowerment Now! training programme.

"Not only it was helpful because I learned the theory, but every time I had to do an assignment, I was doing it for my company. So, I would build a business model for the assignment knowing that I would use it and apply it in my company and also would benefit from the revisions and feedback.”

October 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – Andaru Dhaniswara is First Secretary at the Directorate for International Security and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. In early 2022, he participated in the UNITAR Hiroshima Training Programme on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. Andaru found the programme incredibly rewarding. Not only was the technical content relevant to his work; he feels empowered to engage in international negotiations towards nuclear non-proliferation.

October 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – What happens when disasters strike amid conflict? “No one anticipates or wishes for a war or an epidemic but having a prepared [disaster risk reduction] mindset, will considerably reduce the risk of a disaster,” says Marie-Claire Tohnain, who is studying to be a medical doctor in Cameroon.

October 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – Multilingualism is especially relevant for the United Nations and our partners as we work to bring course content to communities across the globe. The languages used determines which communities have access to knowledge. With that in mind, efforts to expand the languages available for online course content are under way, with the help of multilingual youth.

September 2022, Hiroshima, Japan – So much of the world’s information is available through reading, speaking or listening. But what if those channels aren't available to you? What if the language you use isn’t spoken or written?