Historically, the role of women in diplomacy has remained marginal, at best, evidenced by the low- though increasing- rates of women’s participation in senior level positions in the UN system. Among diplomats to the UN, currently, women account for 23 of the 192 permanent representatives and observers to United Nations headquarters in New York. Women’s participation at senior level positions in the UN system also remains dismal.

NEW YORK, 26 May (UNITAR) — Today, the Olof Palme Memorial Fund, Sweden, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) are launching the 2010 Negotiation Training Series “Towards a level playing field”, aimed at enhancing diplomats’ negotiation skills.  With the generous support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, this Series marks the fourth year of collaboration between the Olof Palme Memorial Fund and UNITAR.

Even though the movement of people as a response to changes in the environment is not a new phenomenon, this issue has risen on the international agenda as a result of the growing awareness of the reality of climate change and its possible implications. Climate change is predicted to increase climate variability and lead to greater intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.

Within the contents of the agreement, a wide array of areas are covered including in-country capacity development projects; satellite imagery analysis and education to assist in operational missions ; the dissemination of international migration law (IML) ; the advancement of strategic policy thinking and dialogue in this important field; and the strengthening of local networks to foster inter-regional collaboration on integration issues.

In its April session, the Global Project Board welcomed UNITAR as an Associate Partner of the Global Project on "Measuring the Progress of Societies". The Global Project, which is hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and run in collaboration with other international and regional partners seeks to become the world wide reference point for those who wish to measure, and assess the progress of their societies.

4 March 2009
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