Zarif Ludin, originally from Afghanistan, is Head of Institutional Partnerships at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He completed the UNITAR Executive Master’s Degree Programme in 2016. Since then, he has been applying his skills in advancing public financial management systems globally through the accountancy profession. Recently, he helped bring about the new partnership between ACCA and UNITAR, through which the two entities plan to jointly design, deliver and scale practical learning pathways in finance, sustainability, digital innovation, entrepreneurship, public financial management, ethics and value creation.

May 2026, Geneva, Switzerland — When Tan Yu Xian first joined Cohort 1 of the Pathway to Prosperity Programme, he found himself in a room of working professionals: engineers, managers and specialists, some with twenty or thirty years of industry experience behind them. The programme has been designed for exactly this audience: early and mid-career professionals upskilling in AI and data centre infrastructure, two of the fastest-moving fields in the global economy.

May 2026, Geneva, Switzerland — When Danny McQueen joined Cohort 1 of the Pathway to Prosperity Programme, he was carrying twenty years of project management experience and a misconception most people share. "I always thought AI was actually ChatGPT. That's it. I thought you just ask questions and it answers back." Data centres, he assumed, were equally modest: "I thought it was just a small centre which keeps your data. I didn't know it was a huge kind of construction — with cooling systems and diverse equipment."

19 June 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – Masato Yakabe from Japan worked with a Japanese NGO supporting communities in Gaza for four years. Masato joined the FY2025 Primary Course of the Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development, where he affirmed what it takes to be a good global citizen, gained practical skills for United Nations work, and clarified his career path in humanitarian affairs.

17 June 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – Layla Merzah from Iraq works as a communication and media specialist with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She joined the FY2025 Primary Course of the Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development to help further direct her humanitarian career.

May 2026, Geneva, Switzerland — When Captain Muru joined Cohort 1 of the Pathway to Prosperity Programme, he was not looking for a career pivot. He had already built one through decades in the private sector, a PhD in Digital Economy, and a steady shift towards community leadership through the Rotary Club of Nilay Central and District 3300 Malaysia.

June 2026, Geneva, Switzerland — As Vice President and Legal Advisor of FOMCA, Indrani P. Thuraisingham days are usually built around consumer grievances, policy analysis, community outreach, and ensuring that ordinary Malaysians are not left behind as the country accelerates into its digital future. It was exactly this background that brought her into a room full of like-minded, enthusiastic learners and mid-career professionals comprising Cohort 1 of the Pathway to Prosperity Programme.

1 June 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – Tatsuki Sakai from Japan is a policy officer at the World Food Programme (WFP) Togo, where he manages an agriculture and school feeding programme.
Tatsuki’s passion for food security was sparked in childhood by a movie that he saw, which showed children dying of starvation. It made him question the stark inequality between those with plenty to eat and those without. That spark eventually led him to work for the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Cameroon, where he supported food aid programmes for developing countries, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tanzania, where he worked on agricultural development.

29 May 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – Miki Sakiyama has built her career working for gender equality and women’s empowerment. In her current role at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), she supports programmes that advance women’s rights, youth participation, and inclusive development.

22 May 2026, Hiroshima, Japan – Lydia Tabu Casmiro Jamba from South Sudan works to help build peace in her country. Now managing programming for a national, women-led NGO that she helped to found and studying for her master’s degree, Lydia joined the FY2024 Primary Course of the Program for Global Human Resource Development for Peacebuilding and Development to strengthen her chosen career path.