The conference generated forward-looking and future-oriented discussions on the future of finance in the context of the latest FinTech innovations, best practices of digitalizing monetary policy and currencies from the regulatory perspective, and the potential of digital innovations in accelerating sustainable development. UNITAR partnered with such distinguished entities for this event as the Asian Development Bank, Deloitte Switzerland, Geneva Finance Research Institute of the University of Geneva, Instimatch Global, National Bank of Hungary, SIX Digital Exchange and Swiss Finance and Technology Association.

UNITAR’s Digital Finance Initiative aims to leverage the digital age by harnessing innovation and scaling financial inclusion to support the achievement of the SDGs.

6 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR jointly with the York University and the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in York, Canada (CIFAL York) hosted a dialogue with 132 experts, officials, and representatives from the public and private sectors about lessons learned and challenges regarding COVID-19 vaccine deployment, as well as to present a new tool developed by UNITAR to support local and national efforts to control the pandemic through effective vaccination campaigns and protective behaviours.

30 April 2021, New York, USA - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office concluded the Spring Session of one of its flagship programme - Global Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) with a virtual closing ceremony. The UNITAR GDI programme provides a one-of-a-kind training experience to young professionals and students in higher stages of education who are interested in the United Nations (UN) to get a sneak peek into its functioning while also developing technical knowledge and learning from the experience of UN delegates and academicians.

5 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - In order to face up the challenge that is delivering climate literacy across the globe, UN CC:Learn has made available a new feature which allows everyone to make voluntary donations to help scale up the programme’s efforts. Contribute today and help bring state-of-the-art e-learning resources on climate change and green economy to the most in need!

May 4, 2021, New York, USA.- The Head of the UNITAR Office in New York, Mr. Marco Suazo, participated in the side event entitled “Building an Effective Way Forward for Indigenous Peoples to Participate and Contribute with their Knowledge and Experience” in the framework of the 6th Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs.

May 2021 - How climate change can impact on disease outbreaks such as Zika or Dengue? Andrea Monroy-Licht is a UN CC:Learn Champion who has been leading a project called Salud 1.5º.  This initiative seeks to encourage students to take action against the health risks associated with climate change and global warming. This Colombian teacher from Barranquilla has already made positive changes in her community and is looking forward to replicating this project in other cities. Discover more about her environmental education activities on climate change issues which aims at mitigating the effects associated with vector-borne diseases.

3 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland –UNITAR is launching its 6-week online training programme “Leading Inclusive 4IR: Empowering Women in Afghanistan for the Future of Work through Digital Reskilling” on 31 May 2021. UNITAR is currently accepting applications until 26 May 2021. Participants will learn skills to excel in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) while being empowered to take the lead. Conducted in English, the course will cover programming and coding skills, digital literacy, application development, cybersecurity and AI training, and combine it with gender leadership empowerment training. During the final week, there will be an online hackathon to test participant’s skills.

April 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - UNEP, UNSIAP and UNITAR are delighted to announce a new self-paced e-learning course – “Environmental SDG indicators”. Targeted primarily towards National Statistical Offices, Ministries of Environment, civil servants, and other stakeholders that support broader national sustainable development monitoring and decision making. The course comprises 10 individual modules, that provide an overview of all 25 SDG indicators under UNEP custodianship, due to vast thematic knowledge, each module can be regarded as a stand-alone module and taken individually.

28 April 2021, Georgetown, Guyana - On 25 March 2021, UNITAR-UNOSAT hosted and co-facilitated together with UNDP Guyana and CIMA, an online Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) Awareness Raising Workshop with a focus on flood early warning communication.