Passion and prayers – that’s how Everlyn Fiualakwa of the Solomon Islands got into disaster risk management. Everlyn had just graduated from university and was looking for a job when an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Temotu Province, on 6 February 2013. A tsunami followed, killing 10 people. Reading about the disaster in the papers, Everlyn knew then what she wanted to do with her life: to help communities in her country become better prepared to deal with emergencies.

Les participants, tous originaires d’Afrique sub-saharienne, étaient pour la plupart des représentant de gouvernements et d’autres autorités impliquées dans la formulation de politique agricole, de programme et mesures.

"I plan to open my own cafe where I can employ single mothers and young people and teach them everything I learnt about developing simple business ideas that, hopefully, they will be able to apply to their own lives.”

“The course brings interesting case studies and I connected with two of them that were about microfinance institutions from Kenya that target people in rural areas.”

Khamis Bol Ajak Aguar of South Sudan is passionate. Passionate about passing on the knowledge and skills he learned from UNITAR and his studies, educating youth, and bringing peace and prosperity to his country. UNITAR is delighted to have Khamis as a volunteer coach for South Sudanese youth in our entrepreneurship programme and to see how our remarkable alumni are bringing about positive change in the world.

With the hackathon, Enas became more inspired to continue promoting healthier lifestyles and cities’ renaturalization with her students. She has replicated some of the methodologies from the hackathon in her classes.

As part of the AGFUND and UNITAR Global Learning Platform on Financial Inclusion initiative, two e-workshops were organized to enhance the capacities of professionals in the areas of financial inclusion and sustainable development. The e-workshops "Financial inclusion and sustainable development" and "Training of Trainers for financial inclusion" were delivered in November and December 2020, over four weeks each. The e-workshops targeted professionals working in microfinance or financial institutions from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) and UNITAR launched the Global Learning Platform on Financial Inclusion in October 2019. The initiative aims to enhance capacities on financial management and financial inclusion. It is oriented towards finance practitioners, particularly in micro-credit financial institutions and in government entities fostering financial inclusion of women and young entrepreneurs, as well as officers in governments, NGOs and other civil society organizations. Since its launch, AGFUND and UNITAR have delivered eight online courses and two e-workshops on the platform, all free of charge, targeting participants from least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island development states; especially from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. To increase the likelihood of reaching the intended beneficiaries, a selection process was carried out for each learning event and the platform was made available in desktop version and through a mobile app.

Lavinia Latu shares her experience and Preparedness Tips as a leader in Disaster Planning in Tonga, an area prone to annual cyclones, storm surges, and flooding – made worse with rising sea levels – and droughts induced by El Niño.

The Cook Islands have had long-standing self-reliant communities in the face of natural disasters. An alumna of UNITARPs Disaster Risk Reduction Training Programme, Sonath Abdul Sattar shares her story and preparedness tips and options.