September 2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of people, and countries’ economies in unprecedented ways. The governments’ efforts to achieve the global 2030 Agenda have halted or even rolled back as a result of the global health crisis. A number of short-term measures had to be taken to respond to this health emergency and then address the recovery through significant money injections. This short-term response has, however, at times failed to account for mid-term and long-term effects and objectives. The need for a sustainable recovery as part of a more integrated and forward-looking vision has been broadly recognized by many countries and stakeholders as the basis for the achievement of the SDGs and national priorities.

15 September 2021 - The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) and UNITAR’s International Training Centres for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL Global Network) jointly announced the launch of the first UNITAR-certified Sport Safety and Security Training and Advanced Education Programme for professionals in Africa.

With the hackathon, Enas became more inspired to continue promoting healthier lifestyles and cities’ renaturalization with her students. She has replicated some of the methodologies from the hackathon in her classes.

On 19 August 2021, Geneva, Switzerland (Virtual) – UNITAR’s Division for Peace is excited to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region of Africa Regional Training Facility (ICGLR-RTF) with the goal of contributing to international, regional, and local efforts aimed at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Great Lakes Region. UNITAR and the ICGLR-RTF have a strong working relationship, and the signing of this MoU represents the formalisation of the partnership and a recommitment towards comprehensive joint programming.

16 August 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR has been following the situation in Afghanistan with great concern. We ask for the protection of life and the safety of all the people of Afghanistan, irrespective of gender, creed, or affiliation, and that humanitarian assistance be given to those in need. We stand with the citizens of Afghanistan in the hope that humanity prevails in these trying times.

11 August 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Despite the many challenges brought forth in the past months, the team of the Multilateral Diplomacy Programme Unit (MDPU) has grown, quasi-doubling its size compared to pre-pandemic times. Here is how they managed to keep connected with each other!

03 August 2021, Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (CAN) signed a cooperation agreement to formalize their joint efforts to provide training and capacity-building for the improvement of road safety in the Andean region.

As part of the AGFUND and UNITAR Global Learning Platform on Financial Inclusion initiative, two e-workshops were organized to enhance the capacities of professionals in the areas of financial inclusion and sustainable development. The e-workshops "Financial inclusion and sustainable development" and "Training of Trainers for financial inclusion" were delivered in November and December 2020, over four weeks each. The e-workshops targeted professionals working in microfinance or financial institutions from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

This 4-week online course on "Agri-food Export Promotion Policy and Practical Tools" will be Expert-facilitated and free of charge, but limited slots are available. Successful participants receive a Certificate of Completion from UNITAR and FAO. Registration is available at: https://aep3t.unitar.org/

16 July 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – Dai Tamesue, two-time World Championships bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles, was appointed UNITAR Goodwill Ambassador in July 2021. “I am committed to training Asian athletes and fostering friendship among them, so I resonate with UNITAR’s activities. I look forward to promoting its missions,” said Mr. Tamesue at the online press conference held on 14 July 2021.