23 April 2021, Merida, Mexico – In an effort to reach Indigenous Communities in Mexico and in Central America, the International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders in Merida (CIFAL Merida) developed a short manual and video about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Mayan language. This responds to their commitment to further disseminate the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s Goals to Indigenous Peoples. Mayan is a living language that it is still spoken by at least 6 million Maya people in some countries in Mesoamerica, including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.

21 April 2021, Abu Dhabi, UAE - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is delighted to announce the signing of a joint agreement between Rabdan Academy, UAE, and UNITAR. The MoU was signed at Rabdan Academy’s campus in Abu Dhabi by Mr. James Morse, President of Rabdan Academy, and Mr. Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR. Both partners stressed the importance of joint training and educational efforts to address the challenges facing the UAE and the wider international community.

11 June 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – On 25 March 2021, UNITAR Hiroshima Office, Hiroshima Television Corporation, and UNITAR Association jointly hosted a public online forum “Shaping Our Future: Together Looking to the Future of Sports and Peace 25 Years from Now” to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and to reaffirm the central role of the Social Development Goals (SDGs) and the part sports can play in securing a peaceful future of humankind.

19 April 2021, Geneva, Switzerland – 111 senior business executives from AB InBev’s corporate affairs teams across the world joined the inaugural presentation of the Toolkit 2.0 “Designing and implementing campaigns in support of vaccination efforts to prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19: Strategies for Companies” on 15 April 2021 at 9:00 EST.

16 April 2021, New York, USA (Virtual) - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in partnership with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, successfully delivered the workshop entitled “Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting” from 7-8 April 2021. The workshop was attended by 40 participants and focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and the push for companies and investors to remake business models in order to respond to the goals outlined by the SDGs. This workshop is supported under the programme “Levelling the Playing Field”, with funding allocated from the Swedish International Development Agency’s (SIDA) contribution to the UNITAR Strategic Framework Fund.

12 avril 2021, Brazzaville, République du Congo – Du 25 février au 31 mars 2021, UNITAR-UNOSAT a livré une formation en ligne au bénéfice de la République du Congo. Cette formation, animée par des facilitateurs, avait pour but de transmettre aux participants les concepts et la terminologie de la technologie de l'information géospatiale (TIG) ainsi que des méthodologies géospatiales pour soutenir les opérations de réponse d'urgence et le processus de décision lors de catastrophes humanitaires.

13 April 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - When a natural disaster hits, rapid responses are essential to assess the damage quickly and to direct humanitarian relief efforts where they are needed the most. Experts and data scientists from UNITAR-UNOSAT and UN Global Pulse applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) to satellite imagery to quickly map flooded areas and assess the damage that was caused in various operational settings. In this blog, we describe the approach and how we’re using it to inform decision-making on the ground.

8 April 2021, Georgetown, Guyana & Geneva, Switzerland – Between 18 January and 02 February 2021 UNOSAT and CIMA in partnership with UNDP, Guyana delivered a 12-day technical course entitled “Operational Flood Forecasting System”. The course focused on the operational use of the hydrologic/hydraulic models and flood forecasting chain implemented at Hydrometeorological Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana. Due to travel restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the training was delivered remotely in a moderated e-learning format.

6 April 2021, Bangkok, Thailand - UNOSAT delivered an advanced training on the Operational Application of Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands using blended learning formats to ensure maximum engagement of participants despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This training was offered as part of the capacity development activities of the CommonSensing project that aims to improve climate resilience in the Pacific small island states.

31 March 2021, Copenhagen, Denmark - UNITAR-UNOSAT and the University of Copenhagen co-organized and delivered a 3-week Masters level course entitled “Geo-information in disaster situations” from 8 to 26 March 2021. The beneficiaries were fourteen University of Copenhagen students registered in the Master of Disaster Management programme. Instruction during the first week focused on an introduction to remote sensing, data analysis, cartographic modelling and essential software applications and was delivered by the University of Copenhagen.