11-14 January 2021, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – A group of 97 senior officials and ambassadors from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change engaged in a four-day UNITAR High-Level e-Workshop to improve their skills and knowledge in environmental diplomacy, in the lead-up to this year’s Conference of Parties (COP26). The activity was made possible with the financial support of SIDA, Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation.

12 February 2021, Georgetown, Guyana - UNITAR through the Partnership for Action on Green Economy co-organized a workshop on 'Building back better through trade and industrial policy' in Guyana. The workshop aimed at building technical knowledge and skills related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policy at the trade and industry interface, thus supporting local agents in the achievement of national sustainable goals.

12 February, 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – UNITAR Division of Prosperity Alumnus Baraa Hameed Salman named Regional Ambassador to IEEE’s Global Startup Resource Index

9 February 2021, Hiroshima, Japan -  “The COVID-19 pandemic revealed our world’s pre-existing fragility. It is, therefore, critical, that we shape our post-COVID-19 world around resiliency to diverse risks and invest in a way of living with which humankind and the planet can coexist and prosper.” Mihoko Kumamoto, Director, UNITAR Division of Prosperity, speaking with the Kure Rotary Club, Hiroshima, Japan.

03 February 2020, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR, UNCTAD, UNHCR and IOM organized the online side event “Entrepreneurship for Migrants and Refugees: Innovative Partnerships for Sustainable Development”, on 25 January 2021, in the framework of the13th Summit of the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD). It was held in English, with interpretation services to Arabic and French. There was a wide participation from all regions, with representatives from States, private sector, academia, and civil society.

03 February 2020, Geneva, Switzerland- Mr. Alex Mejia, Director, Division for People and Social Inclusion at UNITAR, Head, CIFAL Global Network, presented an update on the online Knowledge Hub on Migration and Sustainable Development, on 25 January 2021, in the framework of the Open Space of the 13th Summit of the Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD). During this segment of the Summit, there was a wide participation from all regions, with representatives from States, private sector, academia, and civil society.

“When you are equipped with knowledge you don’t remain the same. You talk with confidence because you have really learned, and know it is clearer and you talk based on evidence and at the point of knowledge”.

"We were stranded in the school, unable to move anywhere because the streets were submerged, and many people lost their lives. It is caused by Coral abstraction and cutting mangroves, but climate change is making the problem even worse".

3 February 2021, Hiroshima, Japan - Mihoko Kumamoto, Director of UNITAR Division of Prosperity, shared her message with medical students at Hiroshima University, as part of the university’s Aiming for Eternal Peace lecture series.

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.