Effective leadership and empowerment of vulnerable people, especially women and youth, is essential to support sustainable development and strategic growth. 

Focusing on leadership, youth empowerment, gender empowerment, security issues and disaster risk reduction, UNITAR equips youth and women with intersectional, inclusive leadership skills that they can use to empower their communities. Our alumni go on to create non-profits and social enterprises that uplift vulnerable populations in least-developed and post-conflict countries. 

When you train a woman, you train a family, a community and a nation. — Talita Tuipolutu, Tongan communications coordinator and UNITAR alumna

Women’s Leadership in Tsunami-based Disaster Risk Reduction

The UNITAR Women’s Leadership in Tsunami-based Disaster Risk Reduction programme aims to empower women professionals, especially from small island developing states, to help their countries and communities better prevent, prepare, confront, and recover from disasters. 

UNITAR Hiroshima Youth Ambassador Programme 

Since 2008, the UNITAR Hiroshima Youth Ambassador Programme connects high school students in Hiroshima with international experts to learn about the United Nations system, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and careers in diplomacy and international affairs. 

UNITAR Youth Ambassador Asia Pacific Programme

Launched in 2021, the UNITAR Youth Ambassador Asia Pacific Programme aims to empower high school students in Hong Kong, cities in China, and other Asia-Pacific countries to help our world build back better, greener, and stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Gender Empowerment Now: Building Capacity to Mainstream Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment into the Government Policy  

The gender equality and women’s empowerment programme, run with the support of UN Women and the Cypriot Government, trains government officials in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon to effectively mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment into government policy.