Displaying 1 - 10 of 175
17 December, Geneva, Switzerland – A landmark report providing the first detailed account of the devastating damage to the World Heritage Property of the Ancient City of Aleppo in the wake of years of armed conflict has been published by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and UNESCO.
The Ancient City of Aleppo is one of six Syrian World Heritage sites added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 2013. Five Years of Conflict: The State of Cultural Heritage in the Ancient City of Aleppo draws on satellite imagery assessment of a total of...
17 December, Geneva, Switzerland – A landmark report providing the first detailed account of the devastating damage to the World Heritage Property of the Ancient City of Aleppo in the wake of years of armed conflict has been published by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and UNESCO.
The Ancient City of Aleppo is one of six Syrian World Heritage sites added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 2013. Five Years of Conflict: The State of Cultural Heritage in the Ancient City of Aleppo draws on satellite imagery assessment of a total of...
The UNITAR Operational Satellite Training Programme (UNOSAT) contributes to human security, peace and socio-economic development by providing integrated satellite-based solutions for governments as well as relief and development organizations within and outside the UN system. As part of its capacity development activities, a two-week training programme took place in Bhutan, with support from the State of Qatar. With funding through the newly-established Strategic Framework Fund, the programme aimed to enhance the use of geospatial technologies for evidence-based decision ma...
Thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UNESCO and UNITAR in 2015, and building on our previous two reports on damage to archeological sites in Syria (2014) and in Syria, Iraq, Nepal, and Yemen (2015), satellite imagery analysis is now a routine tool for assessing potential damage to cultural heritage sites.
The complementary roles of UNESCO and UNITAR-UNOSAT are important as they ensure an objective UN assessment of the status of cultural heritage, free from political bias and founded on scientific methods. This comprehensive study has revealed significan...
Geneva, Switzerland, 20 September 2022 - The use of Earth Observation technologies, in particular the analysis and interpretation of satellite imagery, has expanded considerably in recent years. Geospatial analysis is now a highly in-demand tool for collecting evidence on specific situations. As in any other specialized field, making the technical results of analysis accessible to key decision-makers is crucial for their effective application.
A method used by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT)’s Emergency Mapping service is to produce maps and other pr...
14 – 18 October 2019, Jakarta, Indonesia - Indonesia is in one of the world’s most natural disaster-prone areas and is at risk to multiple hazards, including flooding, earthquakes, landslides, tsunami, volcano, and cyclone. Throughout 2018, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded almost 2,000 natural disasters that claimed more than 4,000 lives and displaced approximately 3 million people. Disaster events occurred in 2018 also caused severe financial losses up to 3$ billion according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency. The Government ...
22 October - 2 November 2018, Thimphu, Bhutan – UNITAR-UNOSAT has delivered a two-week training programme, with support from the State of Qatar, to enhance the use of geospatial technologies for evidence-based decision making in Bhutan. The in-country training was organised in cooperation with the National Land Commission Secretariat of the Royal Government Bhutan, and it also brought together government officials from the selected line ministries, such as Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The ...
21 July 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is sometimes referred to as the “World’s Hazard Belt”. During the past five years, the region experienced tsunamis and earthquakes in Indonesia, severe droughts in Madagascar, floods and landslides in India, seasonal cyclones in the Islands of the Indian Ocean, and many more calamities. In these countries prone to both man-made and natural hazards, the domino effect on poverty, famine, societal imbalance cannot be discounted. Disaster Risk Management (DRM) is a priority area of collective interest to the Indi...
The IOMC Toolbox for decision making in chemicals management – Phase III: From design to action project aims to support the implementation of SAICM by enhancing the identification and implementation of guidance materials for chemicals management by developing countries and countries in transition using resources developed by IOMC partner organisations. It also continued to improve the functionalities and broadened the scope and application of the Toolbox as developed in the two previous phases. The project was implemented between December 2017 and October 2022.
The p...
09 November 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - In South Asia, the monsoon season started early and forcefully this year. Nepal was particularly hit by heavy rainfall in June 2021: flooding and landslides were reported in many parts of the country and affected thousands of families*.
In August, rainfall intensified again for several consecutive days, with rivers overflowing, landslides triggered across the hills, and widespread inundation in the southern plains. In the affected areas, many houses, informal settlements, and other buildings were destroyed, forcing people to seek ref...