AGFUND and UNITAR signed a new agreement in February 2022 to establish the Global Partnership Hub. The hub aims to enhance education, research and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and accelerate financial inclusion for low-income countries. UNITAR Executive Director Nikhil Seth and Director of Division for Prosperity Mihoko Kumamoto joined the signing ceremony in Saudi Arabia.

In December 2021, UNITAR signed two other agreements with AGFUND. One was for financial inclusion and women empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East (to be implemented by the Division for Prosperity). The other was for training 1,100 obstetric and gynaecological care providers in Afghanistan (with the Division for Peace). The signing ceremony took place in Geneva, alongside the annual awarding ceremony of the Prince Talal International Prize for Human Development. The prize carries a financial reward of US$ 1,000,000 to promote pioneering projects that support human development and the SDGs.

UNITAR Division for Prosperity will add 360-degree virtual tours to its training programme on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The latest round of the programme will be held online from 25 February to 18 March 2022. The 3D technologies will help bring powerful on-site experiences to learning via laptops and mobile devices. Experiencing Hiroshima in person was at the heart of the programme before the COVID-19 pandemic forced UNITAR to move online.

The 360-degree tours will include the Peace Memorial Park, a symbol of Hiroshima’s destruction and reconstruction from the atomic bomb. Participants will get a special glimpse inside the Atomic Bomb Dome, which is usually closed to visitors. UNITAR also plans to make part of the virtual tours publicly available from its website.

UNITAR Division for Prosperity has been training government officials in negotiation skills for nuclear disarmament since 2015. The virtual tours will complement microlearning modules, webinars with global experts and a mock negotiation exercise.

UNITAR Division for Prosperity in partnership with Columbia Business School is launching a 2-week online course to upskill (1) women and youth entrepreneurs who are interested in digital health and (2) women and youth healthcare professionals (such as medical practitioners, hospital administrators, and medical sales representatives). Financial support comes from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency through the UNITAR Strategic Framework Fund for its Afghanistan learners, Hiroshima Prefecture for Iraqi learners, and the Government of Japan for the Sahel region.

The course will launch on 7 March 2022 in Afghanistan and Iraq and on 14 March 2022 in Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal). It will address digital health, entrepreneurship, and the intersection of the two. Columbia Business School provided the following lessons:

• Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship: Technopreneurship – Telemedicine – Wearable devices – Entrepreneurial strategies
• Introduction to Digital Health: Patient-centred theories – Population health – Health Information technology – Tele-health – Contextualized health

On 26 January 2022, UNITAR concluded the 2021 Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Training Programme with a public online panel discussion on Pacific women’s leadership. Panellists included representatives from the Samoa Red Cross Society, Fiji National Disaster Management Office, and Welfare and Disaster Prevention Community Association from Japan. They discussed the urgent and complex disaster risks that small island developing states and Japan face, as well as how gender perspectives could be better integrated into DRR policies and practices.

Two recent DRR alumnae from the Kingdom of Tonga also shared their experiences of the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami that struck their country. Their UNITAR training helped them assist family and friends by instructing them to follow official evacuation instructions and quickly get to safety. Although the two alums were in Japan at the time, they found that the DRR course had helped them understand the whole scenario of a disaster, from preparations to recovery, which helped them to navigate this difficult time.

With financial support from the Government of Japan, the UNITAR DRR Programme will continue to support women to lead disaster risk management practices in small Pacific Island developing states.

The 2020–2021 UNITAR Building Bridges: Entrepreneurship and Project Planning in South Sudan Programme came to an end in October 2021, with close to 100 participants completing the course. Supported by Government of Japan, the programme trained young professionals on entrepreneurship, project management and leadership. It sought to empower South Sudanese youth to help reconstruct and develop their country as it emerges from decades of conflict.

Through a self-paced online course, participants learned the basics of entrepreneurship including project planning, organizational needs assessments, and environmental analysis, as well as project implementation, and leadership.

Two alumnae, Tabu Elder and Baria Johnson Kibo, are already putting these lessons to use – Tabu is teaching these skills to start-up entrepreneurs and local businesses while planning her own community project pertaining to water, sanitation and hygiene. Meanwhile, Baria conducted a needs assessment at her workplace, Radio Bakhita, to improve the operations of the radio station.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person learning unsuitable, this round of the programme was run entirely online. Because the internet in South Sudan is unstable and costly, UNITAR Division of Prosperity provided SIM cards with internet bundles to learners and coaches, so that participants could complete their online learning.