20 Aug 2025, Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are relaunching the self-paced Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on SDG-aligned Budgeting. The course is designed to help governments, parliaments, and stakeholders better integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into national budgeting processes.

20 August 2025, Geneva, Switzerland — From 24 to 26 June 2025, UNITAR supported a three-day workshop in Castries, Saint Lucia, as part of the country’s ongoing experimental data project. The initiative aims to explore the integration of data collected via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with other sources, namely the 2022 Population and Housing Census, satellite imagery, household surveys, and citizen-generated data, to produce official statistics.

15 August 2025, Hiroshima, Japan – Growing up in Asyut, Egypt, Ahmed Hassanein was no stranger to the struggles of smallholder farmers. He witnessed firsthand how low productivity and financial instability pushed many farmers to abandon their land in search of alternative livelihoods. This reality planted the seed of a lifelong mission for Ahmed: to bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern sustainable agriculture.

August 2025, Hiroshima, Japan – “The one-week course [of the Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development] was intense yet engaging, providing an opportunity to reflect on my career journey thus far…This experience, along with connecting with global cohorts, will undoubtedly be an asset in my long-term career,” says Akiko Hasegawa, Finance Officer in the Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning (BPS) Vice Presidency at the World Bank. She joined the Bank in early 2025 in pursuit of her goal to strengthen results on the ground by enhancing the efficiency of the financial and operations management, which she believes will ultimately contribute to a better world.

12 August 2025, Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) launched Prosperity Alliance Frankfurt on 25 June 2025. As part of the launch, members of the Alliance went on a week-long environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainable development study tour across Germany and Switzerland.

7 August 2025, Geneva, Switzerland – In celebration of World Youth Skills Day, the UNITAR Global Water Academy and CIFAL Philippines at the University of the Philippines co-hosted a virtual event entitled “Streams of Change: Prioritizing Youth Engagement in the Water and Sanitation Sector.” The session convened emerging professionals across water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programmes, highlighting the vital role of youth in advancing Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): Clean Water and Sanitation for All.

7 August 2025, Abuja, Nigeria - In the framework of the Fleet Safety Global Training Programme regional workshop held on 30-31 July 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria, the first regional meeting of CIFAL Centres based in Africa took place. The meeting brought together directors of CIFAL Durban, CIFAL Dakar, CIFAL Banjul, and CIFAL Nigeria to strengthen collaboration and expand capacity-building initiatives across the region. The meeting focused on the theme of road safety, bringing together experts from across the region to exchange good practices and identify priority training needs.

7 August 2025, Abuja, Nigeria - In collaboration with Rivers State University and Together for Safer Roads (TSR), UNITAR successfully concluded its “Fleet Safety Regional Training Workshop” in Abuja, Nigeria, on 30-31 July 2025, bringing government officials from the Ministry of Transport of Nigeria, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), companies operating midsize and large-sized fleets in Nigeria, along with representatives from the Rivers State University. International participants included representatives from the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure of The Gambia, municipal leaders from the eThekwini Municipality in South Africa, the City of Dakar in Senegal, and the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services in the USA. Private sector companies operating fleets in the USA, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia, along with TSR experts, shared good practices in fleet management and exchanged regional and global road safety approaches.

6 August 2025, Hiroshima, Japan – On 6 August 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), with the Hiroshima Prefectural Government and the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe), held a youth dialogue for international peace, “80 Years After the Hiroshima A-bomb: Youth Messages from Hiroshima to the World – Roadmaps Towards a World Without Nuclear Weapons and Sustainable Peace.”

12 August 2025, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR invites 100 participants, aged 18 and above, living in or from Pacific Island countries and territories or the Asia-Pacific to apply for the Japan-funded “UNITAR Women’s Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction Training Programme for World Tsunami Awareness Day 2025”. The programme will equip the participants with lifelong skills in disaster risk reduction and inclusive leadership. The deadline for applications is 3 September 2025 (11:59 p.m. JST [UTC+9]).