27 January 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Between 18-27 January 2021, UNITAR, UNESCAP, UNDP, and UNDESA jointly organized a Subregional Introductory Training for Countries of North and Central Asia on Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFF) for Sustainable Recovery from the COVID-19 Crisis and for Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

With the beginning of the decade of delivery for the 2030 Agenda, mobilisation of finance for the SDGs remains a challenge. The Covid-19 pandemic and the economic disruption it has caused has exacerbated this challenge and threatened the trajectories of countries’ long-term development plan. As the focus now begins to turn towards ensuring a sustainable recovery from the economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the training aimed to share knowledge and build capacity within the INFF steering committees and core ministries of the nine North and Central Asian countries on how to design and implement a coordinated approach to financing the 2030 and Addis Ababa Action Agendas. Participants included members of ministries of finance, economy, labour, environment and health, as well as think tanks, NGOs, Parliament, UN organization and academia.

26 January 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - On 18 March, UNITAR and the Geneva-Tsinghua Initiative, host the third Geneva Trialogue edition, under the theme of ”Scaling Open Innovation for the SDGs“.

Building up on the Institute’s commitment to excellence in innovative capacity-building for leaders of all sectors, UNITAR welcomed an international audience of participants to its first edition of the Extended Diplomatic Skills: Core Hospitality Skills training course.

December 2020, New York, USA.- The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR, Mr. Nikhil Seth, was in New York city from 9 to 11 December to have meetings on the sidelines of his official visit to the United Nations Headquarters.

18 December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland and Georgetown, Guyana – The Flood Forecasting System, under the project “Strengthening Women’s Disaster Management Capacities in Guyana and Dominica” funded by the Government of Japan and led by UNDP Guyana, was implemented by UNOSAT in close collaboration with CIMA Research Foundation. This is the first of two components of the “Development of Guyana National Flood Early Warning System (NFEWS)“ initiative supported by the Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana (Hydromet).

16 December 2020, New York, USA (Virtual) – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research successfully concluded the three-day virtual seminar with its event partners, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and Generation Amazing. Generation Amazing is an organization geared toward youth that uses football to encourage sustainable development, specifically through the principles of gender equality, inclusivity, teamwork and leadership, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha. This seminar was designed for Generation Amazing’s 15 Youth Advocates, who are a group of young Qataris and non-Qatari residents living and studying in Doha.

14 December 2020, New York, USA (Virtual) – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research New York Office successfully launched the first day of a three-day virtual seminar with its event partners, the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and Generation Amazing. Generation Amazing is an organization geared toward youth that uses football to encourage sustainable development, specifically through the principles of gender equality, inclusivity, teamwork and leadership, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha. This seminar was designed by UNITAR for Generation Amazing’s Youth Advocates, who are a group of young Qataris and non-Qatari residents living and studying in Doha. The first day of the three sessions of the seminar was attended by 15 Young Leaders and will continue through 16 December 2020.

December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – Between 2017 and 2019, UNOSAT has been committed to supporting the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) to build resilience to the many hazards the country is exposed to, namely floods and tropical storms. The situation is especially urgent as Lao PDR is particularly vulnerable to these threats, as it is ranked one of the poorest or least developed countries in the Asia Pacific region.

UNITAR and UN CC:Learn joined forces to deliver the Online Training Programme on Climate Change Diplomacy, at which 35 Kenyan diplomats, government officials, and civil society representatives were trained on climate diplomacy. The training took place between 13 November and 8 December 2020 and provided participants with knowledge on climate change and climate diplomacy, building their capacity for the upcoming climate negotiations at COP 26.

11 December 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - On three dates in December 2020 (7, 10, 11), UNITAR and UN Statistics Division hosted an online workshop for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on the uses and applications of the updated StaTact online tool for resolving short-term tactical data problems.