14 July 2016, New York – The SDGs and the Paris Agreement hold a great promise, but how do we turn these aspirational visions into reality? UNITAR’s learning session held on the occasion of the HLPF on Thursday sought to address this issue by focusing on the new types of planning tools and nationally-grown actionable strategies to turn the SDGs, climate and regional commitments into reality. Facilitated by UNITAR’s Executive Director Nikhil Seth, the session featured Jeffrey Sachs, H.E. Amb. Kamau of Kenya, Halldór Thorgeirsson from UNFCCC, and experts from the World Resources Institute.

A Framework of Cooperation between the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Group of Fifteen (G-15), a grouping of developing countries focused on South-South cooperation, was signed on 4th July, 2016 in Geneva.

1 July 2016, Geneva, Switzerland. UNITAR will deliver 2 learning sessions at this year’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF2016), in New York, on 14 July from 10:00 to 12:00 and on 15 July from 15:00 to 17:00. The sessions will aim to promote an improved understanding of requirements related to harmonized policies and inclusive national review and M&E systems for the SDGs. They will feature renowned international and national experts and will be organized as part of the HLPF SDGs Learning, Training and Practice Center.

3 June, 2016, Hiroshima, Japan – The UNITAR Hiroshima Office has successfully concluded the 2nd annual cycle of the training series on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation held between 30 May – 3 June, 2016. The week-long workshop welcomed diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 5 different countries, including Bangladesh, Mongolia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, with 70% of the participants being female. The participants examined the current state of the nuclear disarmament debate, while better understanding the structure and practice of negotiation at non-proliferation discourse events and further developing their negotiation and leadership skills.

24 April 2016, Jeju, Republic of Korea – CIFAL Jeju convened twenty-two government officials (central, state and local), NGO workers and private company representatives from fourteen different countries in the Asia-Pacific region for a four-day workshop on "Green Energy and Sustainable City Planning." CIFAL Jeju, in collaboration with Green Technology Center (GTC), International Electric Vehicle Expo (IEVE) and UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC), held the event from 21 to 24 March 2016 at International Convention Center Jeju (ICC Jeju).

22 April 2016, Hiroshima, Japan - The UNITAR Hiroshima Office has successfully concluded the 13th annual cycle of its highly regarded training series on the Management and Conservation of World Heritage Sites. Held between 18-22 April, the week-long workshop brought participants from nine countries together to examine the expectations and requirements needed to effectively prepare a World Heritage nomination, with a particular focus on the justification for inscription.

April 2016, Geneva, Switzerland - The year 2015 was marked by the adoption of four landmark United Nations agreements: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Addis Ababa Action Agenda, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement. The 2030 Agenda provides an overarching vision for all of them as well as a global framework for national strategies and policies to put the world on a path to sustainability. UNITAR has developed a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to help interested persons improve their knowledge about the new Agenda and related Global Goals.

10 March 2016, New York, USA - Mr. Nikhil Seth, UNITAR Executive Director, met today with the United Nations Secretary-General , Mr. Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

19 January 2016, Geneva, Switzerland - It is with great sadness that we learned that our highly respected and beloved colleague, Mr. Jean Gazarian, UNITAR full-time Senior Fellow, passed away yesterday at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, United States.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family.

More than 100 individuals from over 60 institutions gathered at the 1st Global Forum on Green Economy Learning to discuss global and national approaches to green economy learning and explore opportunities to exchange knowledge and collaborate with the goals of up-scaling green economy learning.