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As a curriculum or learning designer, few things are as heartbreaking as spending months crafting a course, only to witness low engagement, high dropout rates, and lacklustre response from your target learners. Unfortunately, disengagement is a widespread issue.Consider these statistics:Around 90% of online learners disengage with MOOCs (Reich, J., & Ruipérez-Valiente, J. A., 2019; Moore, R. L., & Blackmon, S. J., 2022). Approximately 20-30% of learners drop out of face-to-face courses (Rothkrantz, L., 2017).At least 39% of US university students...
16 December 2024, New York, USA - United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Michelle Gyles-McDonnough of Jamaica as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). She will officially assume her duties on 22 February 2025, succeeding Nikhil Seth of India, to whom the Secretary-General expressed profound gratitude for his dedication and contributions to the United Nations.With over 30 years of experience in sustainable development, policy advocacy, international trade, international rel...
Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director, UNITAROn 16 December 2024, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Michelle Gyles-McDonnough of Jamaica as the new Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). With more than 30 years’ experience in sustainable development, policy advocacy, international trade and international relations, and change management in complex bureaucracies, Ms. Gyles-McDonnough has held multiple leadership roles withi...
On this International Women’s Day, I am pleased to announce that I joined the International Gender Champions. Today, we must all answer the call to action to achieve a future where the rights, equality, and empowerment of all women and girls are fully realized. The theme, For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment., serves as a powerful reminder that gender equality is not just a goal—it is a necessity.Gender equality is fundamental to ending violence, ensuring safe and peaceful societies, building strong economies, and achieving sustainable development. A world...
In collaboration with UNITAR and The Defeat-NCD Partnership, Dr. Kaung and his team in Myanmar’s NCD unit developed a cost-efficient operational plan covering 2021 and 2022 to address the country’s rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD). With technical assistance from a programme coordinator and health economist provided by the partnership, the team built a multi-sectoral approach and applied financial modelling to create the plan.Previously, Myanmar had a national NCD strategy, but it lacked a costed plan for service delivery. “Without a costed pla...
When Dr. Amina, a public health professional in Brazil, heard about the WHO Academy’s new learning platform, she was eager to explore its offerings. Like many of her colleagues, she had struggled with fragmented online learning resources, outdated training materials, and the challenge of accessing high-quality courses relevant to her work. But in December 2024, that changed.Thanks to a successul collaboration between UNITAR’s Division on NCD, Digital Health, and Capacity Building, The Defeat-NCD Partnership, and WHO, 140 essential health training courses were successfully m...
“Empowering healthcare professionals with evidence-based learning”, NCD are the leading cause of global mortality, accounting for 74% of all deaths annually, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries. These chronic illnesses—such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory conditions, and cancers—pose a significant challenge to sustainable development.While genetic, physiological, and environmental factors contribute to NCD, lifestyle choices like unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and the use of tobacco and ...
On 16 October 2022, UNITAR partnered with The Defeat-NCD Partnership to host a high-level panel discussion on Tackling NCD during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event brought together global leaders to address the interconnected challenges of COVID-19 and non-communicable diseases (NCD). It highlighted the urgent need to shift from rhetoric to action in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3.4, reducing premature mortality from NCD.Ms Dechen Wangmo, Minister of Health for Bhutan and President of the 74th World Health Assembly, opened the session ...
A world in which individuals, institutions and organizations are equipped with the knowledge, skills and other capacities to overcome global challenges. - UNITAR's Vision The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) provides innovative learning solutions to individuals, organizations and institutions to enhance global decision-making and support country-level action for shaping a better future.UNITAR was created in 1963 to train and equip young diplomats from newly-independent UN Member States with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate through ...