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18 – 19 September 2019, New York – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), New York Office, supported the launch of newly published Negotiation book at the United Nations Book store in New York and welcomed a visit from the Director of El Instituto Centroamericano de Administración Pública - Central American Institute of Public Administration (ICAP)., At the book launch, UNITAR Head of New York Office Mr. Marco Suazo delivered a congratulatory speech during the launch of the book ‘Negotiating at the United Nations: A Practitioner’s Guide’. Authors D...
According to the Colombia’s National Centre for Historical Memory, between 1960 and 2016, 16879 children were recruited in Colombia by different illegal armed groups, 54% of them were recruited by the FARC-EP. Nowadays, Colombian children and youth continue to be at risk of recruitment by other illegal armed groups and urban criminal gangs.
Pintando el Futuro (Painting the Future), the first component of the project “Youth-led Peace and Reconciliation in Colombia: A Transformational Approach”, aims to strengthen the capacity of local communities to help prevent the (re-) ...
Bringing the expertise and best practices from different partners, UNITAR offers training and learning opportunities for public officials and legislators on the implementation of comprehensive programmes that promote the use of child restraint systems, in order to save the lives of the most vulnerable. For media and journalists on road safety and social communication. For parents and grandparents on the proper use of child restraint systems and seat belts.The overall goal of UNITAR’s activities in this area is to contribute to advance Global Road Safety Performance Ta...
20th International Hurricane Seminar: Twenty years of Innovation, Resilience, and Knowledge Exchange
21 March 2025, Merida, Mexico — Celebrating 20 years of leadership in hurricane risk management and operational resilience, the 20th International Hurricane Seminar brought together distinguished experts from around the world for two days of collaborative learning, strategic dialogue, and forward-looking action. With over 200 participants in attendance—including airport leaders from Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean—the seminar reaffirmed its role as a key platform for advancing regional preparedness. The agenda focused on strengthening strategic communication, ...
UNITAR is supporting the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and the UN office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) through implementing a join project on Effective Weapons and Ammunition Management in a Changing DDR Context, based on the handbook published by DPO and UNODA in 2018 and revised in 2021.
The objective of the initiative is to strengthen the knowledge, skills and attitudes on how to safely and securely handle, store and dispose of DDR weapons and ammunition and to enhance the capacity of DDR practitioners to properly manage weapons and ammunition in DDR contex...
In 2016, a series of four comic books was completed: after “Nosotros” I & II (Us), “Soñando el Futuro” (Dreaming the Future) and “De Regreso a la Vida” (Back to Life) were published. Called “Pintando el Futuro”, this project was implemented by UNITAR in partnership with the Foundation Ciudad Don Bosco in Medellín and with the support of the Institute of the German Foreign Office. The project that started in 2014 aimed to both contribute to the peace building process in Colombia and help youth victims of armed conflict to restore their individual, familial, and social…
CEO, Strategic Social Marketing
Prof. Jeff French is a global thought leader in the fields of behavioural influence, social marketing, social communication, and citizen focused programme planning and evaluation. He has published over 100 academic papers and five books, plus numerous guides and toolkits on these subjects, including the European Centre for Disease Control’s first technical guidance on social marketing.
Prof. French is a visiting Professor at Brighton University and a Fellow at Kings College London University. He teaches at four other universitie...
8 May 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in many countries around the world. Unrestrained children are more likely to be killed in collisions than those using appropriate child restraints and seat belts.
As vehicle occupants, children account for up to 50% of all global child road traffic deaths in high-income countries. And appropriate restraint use varies from nearly 90% in the USA to almost none in some low-income countries. Even in high-income countries where prevalence is high, correct restraint use re...
“Different armed groups remain in control of large areas of the territory, particularly illegal border posts, affecting not only Colombians but also Venezuelans who cross the border every day escaping from hunger and political violence. In 2018, 160 cases of recruitment of children by armed groups were reported in Arauca.”
Explains Luis Bolivar, who together with his colleague Keydi Perez work for Corporación Infancia y Desarrollo in Arauca – one of the provinces most affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. In addition, they emphasise that the province is facing a dang...
Youth are neither passive victims nor pure perpetrators of violence; rather they are complex actors. Therefore, planning for the future of a country post-conflict necessitates engaging with the youth of today. In line with the Agenda 2030 and its overarching objective of Leaving No One Behind, support for the stabilisation and the strengthening of fragile states is a central goal of UNITAR, and as such so is the inclusion of youth, women, victims, ex-combatants, and the most marginalised ones in peace and reconciliation processes.
Colombia, emerging from half a century of ...