UNITAR's Activities in the Areas of Water and Climate Change

UNITAR’S INVOLVEMENT
IN THE UN 2023 WATER CONFERENCE

The UN 2023 Water Conference is a historic opportunity for the world community. It is the first UN conference on water in almost 50 years after the 1977 UN Water Conference and comes at a time when there are urgent needs for water action. UNITAR will be hosting several side events and contribute with concrete and measurable recommendations that could be implemented immediately.

LAUNCH OF THE WATER ACADEMY AT THE UN 2023 WATER CONFERENCE

The Water Academy - a concrete outcome of UNITAR’s participation in the UN 2023 Water Conference - will bring together leading academic institutions and business Executives from the five largest beverage companies worldwide. The Water Academy is focused on delivering innovative training and building human capacities on pressing water related issues at a large scale.

CIFAL GLOBAL NETWORK BUILDING CAPACITIES TO ADDRESS WATER CHALLENGES

In the framework of the UN 2023 Water Conference and the World Water Day, the Cifal Global Network (CGN) is committed to contributing to accelerate change and promote water action through a variety of learning tools and training activities. With a global outreach, the CGN seeks to support SDGs #6 clean water and sanitation, #11 sustainable cities and communities, #14 life below water, #13 climate action, #17 Partnership for the Goals, amongst other related interlinkages.

BUILDING CAPACITY IN THE USE OF GIT FOR FLOOD AND DROUGHT RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE VOLTA BASIN REGION

The Volta River basin, with a population of over 24 million shared between six countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Togo and Ghana), is highly vulnerable to meteorological and hydrological hazards. Over the past two decades, almost two million people have been affected by floods and several countries have experienced five to six times more disasters than during the period running from 1980 to 1999.

THE CREATION OF A ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR REAL-TIME EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION-MAKING

Each year, an Emergency Response Plan is prepared to guide contingency planning, preparedness, and recovery efforts. When the monsoon started this year, Ragindra Man Rajbhandari, Humanitarian Information Management Unit Manager at UNRCO, contacted UNOSAT to complement the existing tools and processes in place.

“We needed the eyes from above to monitor the situation, so we can inform the response decision in time and make the humanitarian response more effective”, explains Mr Rajbhandari.

Recently, the Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (GPA) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme and NORCAP has developed a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Decarbonising Humanitarian Energy (DHE) that aims to replace diesel generators in humanitarian operations. The programme has received generous seed funding of USD 22 million from the German Federal Foreign Office to support humanitarian actors solarise existing diesel-based energy systems in five countries in the Sahel, with an initial focus on Nigeria and Niger.

“THE FUTURE IS FEMALE”: RUNNING AN AGRIBUSINESS IN WESTERN KENYA

Cynthia Achieng is an alum of UNITAR’s Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership Training for Women Entrepreneurs in Africa. Cynthia runs an agribusiness specializing in irrigation technology and greenhouse installation to help address the needs of the farmers in her region, especially during the dry season.

TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES IN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

This course explores the different mechanisms made available in international environmental law to facilitate the creation and implementation of sound environmental norms; from the regulatory and economic instruments used by policy-makers, to the role of Environmental Impact Assessments and public participation in environmental decisions.

WE WANT TO HEAR
FROM YOU

Did you take part in UNITAR events between 1970 and 2014?

There's still time to submit your story by 26 March 2023 to be showcased for our 60th anniversary and inspire others. Tell us how our learning events have impacted your career and daily life.

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MEASURING THE STATE OF THE OCEANS

The module 4 "Measuring the state of the oceans" of the UNEP-UNSIAP-UNITAR Massive Open Online Course is offered as a stand-alone module with a certificate of completion. It explains the importance of measuring the state of oceans and describes various challenges that countries and the international community are facing in monitoring the state of oceans overall.

INTERNATIONAL
ENVIRONMENT LAW

This course will provide you with the basics of International Environmental Law (IEL) by identifying its sources and fundamental principles, the law-making process, its main actors, as well as the implementation and compliance procedures needed to understand and apply Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

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PARTNERSHIPS

UNITAR AND BEREXIA PARTNER TO IMPLEMENT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

UNITAR is thrilled to announce its partnership with Berexia, whose mission is to develop capacities that enhance global decision-making through more advanced skills.

This imminent collaboration will further strengthen the impact of both partners in the realm of digital governance, artificial intelligence, the sustainable development goals, and Agenda 2030.