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According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Typhoon Megi (locally named Juan) made landfall as a category 5 typhoon in the Cagayan Region on 18 October 2010. The cyclone packed winds reaching 225 km per hour with peaks of wind gusts up to 260 km per hour. In addition initial reports of localised mudslides and landslides in the mountain terrain were being received on 19 and 20 October. According to national sources, a total of 39,847 families were affected in 99 municipalities and 9 cities.
These figures are bound to increase as impact…
The field of agriculture and trade raises a host of connected issues, such as food security and food safety, environmental and other consumer concerns. It is also one where the extensive degree of domestic regulation needs to be taken into account in the negotiations. There is, as well, often a gap in policy formulation between national development objectives and the role of agricultural trade in the pursuit of these objectives. Agriculture is not only one of the most sensitive negotiating issues, it is also one of those subjects where a simple North-South presentation of…
The Citizen Cyberscience Centre (CCC) has entered a new phase of its research programme, focused on achieving results in the area of GIS using a collaborative thinking approach based on scientific methods. The centre is based on an international partnership between CERN, UNITAR/UNOSAT and the University of Geneva and a number of associated partners from amongst the leading academic institutions around the world.
HP Labs, an initiative of Hewlett-Packard, has a wide R&D line on Social Computing Research, which focuses on methods for harvesting the collective…
20 May 2011- Pretoria, South Africa - From the 16 to 20 May twenty South African Diplomats attended a UNITAR-training on the “Working Methods of the United Nations Security Council”. The training was jointly organized by UNITARs’ Multilateral Diplomacy Programme (MDP) and the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). The main goal of the four day training was to enhance teamwork and efficient cooperation between the South African capital Pretoria and their Permanent Mission in New York on matters regarding their non-permanent…
22 June 2011, Geneva, Switzerland. Last week for the first time UNITAR’s Multilateral Diplomacy Programme (MDP) implemented its new workshop on “Positivity Skills”. During the two day training the participants learned how to remain positive and spread positivity in their team as well as how to tackle challenges with a positive attitude. The workshop itself ran very positively and at the end many participants even stated that they would like to have a follow-up workshop. “I had a great time and would much appreciate a level two workshop of this kind”, one of the diplomats…
29 June 2011, Buenos Aires, Argentina. UNITAR Executive Director Carlos Lopes and UNESCO IIEP Executive Director Khalil Mahshi met with the Minister of Education of Argentina Professor Sileoni yesterday. The meeting was held in the framework of Mr. Lopes’ membership in the Executive Committee of UNESCO’s International Institute for Education Planning. Mr. Lopes who serves on the Governing Board of UNESCO’s IIEP as Secretary-General’s representative has travelled to Argentina this week with a view to taking part in the 37th session of the Executive Committee of the Board.…
26 July 2011, Geneva, Switzerland - UNOSAT concluded in June 2011 its technical support and analysis collaboration with the Satellite Sentinel Project launched by actor George Clooney together with the NGO Enough and with support from Harvard University. The participation of UNOSAT had been programmed for the first six months to support the pilot phase of a public-domain human security initiative to help monitor the possible humanitarian consequences of a disruption of peace and human security in South Sudan during the period leading to the referendums.
The Project, which…
August 2011, Western Cape, South Africa -The Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (D: EA&DP) has developed a mercury emissions inventory of the Province, following the methodology proposed in UNEP’s Toolkit for the Identification and Quantification for Mercury Emissions.
The provincial inventory will feed information into the national inventory, providing examples of the main sources of mercury emissions that can be found at the local level. D:EA&DP identified medical waste incineration, waste water effluent, sludge disposal to…
A validation workshop on Natural Resource Management in Post-Conflict Countries is being held in Geneva, Switzerland in partnership with UNITAR Peacekeeping Training Programme (PTP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The course will be held from February 17 and February 18, 2010.
The workshop is based on current research that suggests that over the last sixty years, at least 40% of all intrastate conflicts have had a link to natural resources. The potential security implications of…
Flooding hit this month several remote villages of Northern Rakhine State (NRS) in western Myanmar. The situation required the activation of UNOSAT Humanitarian Rapid Mapping upon request by the UN Resident Coordinator in the country. According to UNDP reports, populations affected have received rice and other immediate relief items distributed by the UNDP's field offices in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. All relief efforts are done in collaboration with WFP, UNICEF and UNHCR, while UNOSAT was in charge to prepare geographic information products based on satellite…