At the occasion of this last newsletter in 2021, it is time to reflect about another difficult year for all of us due to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet look towards the future. I am proud of what UNITAR has achieved over the past year, adjusting our work to online and hybrid formats while ensuring the best quality of our trainings, research and capacity-building activities.
For the coming year, UNITAR’s focus will be on identifying new opportunities while taking stock of the needs of making significant progress over sustainable development and the SDGs. Health continues to be a cornerstone of our programming, with focus areas expanding to bridging the digital divide and enabling access to our trainings to the most vulnerable.
The articles in this newsletter focus on the most important challenge we face, the climate crisis. The recent COP26 highlighted mitigation, adaptation, finance and collaboration as the main axes we should center our focus. In the intersection of climate change and the SDGs, topics such as the climate refugee crisis, and climate change and gender, require our attention and action.
UNITAR is actively responding with providing updated knowledge over climate change and interconnected topics, and by training thousands of learners worldwide through its UN CC: Learn Platform. At COP26, we co-developed a learning session on the SDGs and climate change, focusing on learning and practice opportunities. Together with WMO and UNFCCC, we brought together the Geneva ecosystem in the TEDx Geneva event, delivering talks on how changing the climate change language can lead to enhanced climate action among broader audiences. In addition, our Agenda 2030 specialized Unit offers participative programmes where the youth takes action on climate change and gender with innovation.
The only way to address climate change and the SDGs is by taking action in synergies, to prevent further displacements, to progress over women empowerment and gender equality, and to mitigate the impacts of this crisis.
I wish you a healthy and peaceful holiday season and look forward to continuing our work with you in 2022.
Nikhil Seth
Executive Director
UNITAR