When Lu’isa Uai Taunga, an officer with the National Emergency Management Office in the Kingdom of Tonga, participated in the UNITAR Disaster Risk Reduction Training which wrapped up in November 2017, she left with renewed energy and ideas for new initiatives to prepare her community in the island group of Ha’apai in the event of a disaster.

“We are vulnerable to tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, drought and flash floods and it’s an all year cycle,” said Lu’isa Uai Taunga, a citizen of the Kingdom of Tonga, who participated in the UNITAR Disaster Risk Reduction Training which concluded in November 2017.

In West Africa we are a community of countries. Learning about the goals of other countries helped us to figure out our priorities, we can’t develop our private sector just for us.

Ms. Christina Pita Lukudu is a legal counsel working for the Directorate of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice of South Sudan, the world’s newest nation. She was among a group of Fellows who participated in the first cycle of the UNITAR South Sudan Fellowship Programme, launched in September 2015.  

The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa. It is known for its beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves. As such, sustainable fishing is a critical issue for the remote Indian Ocean Republic.  

“In previous years, we fumbled our way along. But, after the course, we realized it is possible to proceed in a very precise way."

Far from bragging about it, 25 years old Hasan might be too modest to acknowledge he's part of Iraq's best chances for a brighter future. Born in Baghdad one year after the end of the first Gulf War, he grew up in a family of engineers that definitely nurtured his own interest for science.