UNITAR

A record 53.6 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced globally in 2019 — the weight of 350 cruise ships the size of the Queen Mary 2; $57 billion in gold and other components discarded — mostly dumped or burned.

22 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s Division for People launched the “Webinar Series Management Practices for Safer Roads” to raise awareness about practical interventions and best practices that contribute to improve road safety. Mr. Nikhil Seth, Executive Director of UNITAR, kicked off the series and highlighted the importance of remaining focused on issues like road safety during these unprecedented times. “Let’s continue to take bold steps to reduce road traffic crashes and let’s further collaborate so that when the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, we stand ready to bring new learnings and best practices to the next decade of action for road safety”, stressed Mr. Seth.

Collegium Civitas has become the first Polish university to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Division for Peace. The MoU outlines the scope of prospective collaboration that includes: training and degree programmes in various thematic fields such as sustainable development, international security and the rule of law.

17 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - As a first step to future cooperation, UNITAR and the International Ocean Institute (IOI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The two institutions formally agreed to seek mutually beneficial cooperation to fulfil their respective missions.

Strong demand for the online course on Trade and Food Security has prompted UNITAR and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to relaunch the course in French for Sub-Saharan African countries. It was initially offered for Sub-Saharan African countries in French in 2018 and in English in 2019.

15 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s Division for Prosperity successfully completed a SIDA-funded pilot programme on “Frontier Technologies for Sustainable Development: Unlocking Women’s Entrepreneurship through Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Afghanistan and Iraq” which benefitted 32 women entrepreneurs from various sectors in the 2 countries.

10 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - The renewed and expanded partnership between UNITAR Division for Peace and the World Humanitarian Forum (WHF) aims to address the limitations imposed by the pandemic to ensure training and development can be delivered uninterrupted and more importantly, to ensure that no one is left behind. In May, the two partners launched WHF Learning – an online platform that intends to increase the awareness of available free distance learning opportunities for professionals in the international community and beyond. WHF Learning is a part of the broader WHF Digital Series that includes open interactive webinars, online courses and podcasts.

10 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - This March, UNITAR Division for Peace and the Justice and Corrections Service (JCS) of the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI), United Nations Department of Peace Operations (UN DPO), partnered to developed two new operational documents designed to support collective COVID-19 response within the justice, security and corrections sector.

29 May 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - Held on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2020, this online expert briefing focused on the future of peacekeeping:
- How will peacekeeping respond to likely funding shortages, and to working in environments weakened by the three “I”-s: instability, inequality, and infectious disease?
- How should capacity building initiatives change in order to mitigate some of the challenges identified above, allowing peacekeepers to implement the mandate more safely and efficiently, in line with the A4P framework?
- What is the short, medium, and long-term gendered impact of this crisis on individual peacekeepers’ well-being? What approaches can be used to help them help others?
Organised in the format of an interactive and open-to-all discussion, the briefing features not only the informed insights of the panelists, but also a virtual Q&A session.

9 June 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - In response to the persistent and unprecedented COVID-19 challenge and committed to the promotion of inclusive sustainable development, UNITAR and Solarkiosk have launched a multi-sectoral, multi-partner collaboration to support preparedness and response on the African continent, at the national level. This integrated multi-level public-private partnership aims to provide solar-powered equipment and infrastructure for screening, testing and treatment of the general population with the help of mobile, solar-powered laboratories. The project constitutes a real, practical and feasible solution that will help to tackle the growing COVID-19 risks in Africa, thereby saving thousands of lives.