The year-long global fight to contain and eliminate the threat of SARS-CoV-2 overshadowed international efforts to achieve the SDGs of Agenda2030. The world needs the brightest minds to step into leadership roles at the forefront of the transformational change required to realize the ambitious goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNITAR is pleased to announce the launch of a new Master Programme in Anti-Corruption and Diplomacy and an Executive Diploma in Anti-Corruption and Diplomacy in cooperation with the International Anti-Corruption Academy.

UNITAR seeks to fulfill its mandate of delivering innovative learning solutions to individuals, organizations and institutions in order to enhance global decision-making and support country-level action for shaping a better future, as well as its objective to reach the furthest first through the creation of a scholarship fund. This scholarship fund will be created from the revenue from the fundraising lecture series.

“My world drastically expanded when I gathered the courage to take this step. It was definitely worth it,” says second-year Takeda High School student Sakura OMURA, who became a 2020 UNITAR Youth Ambassador. UNITAR Hiroshima Office/Division for Prosperity, in collaboration with the UNITAR Association, annually runs the UNITAR Youth Ambassador programme for high school students in Hiroshima. UNITAR seeks to nurture these young people, who are expected to play an important role in the international community, by providing opportunities for exposure to the global community. Sakura was one of the 24 youth selected for the 2020 programme, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

he largest ever opinion survey on climate change was carried out by UN CC:Learn partner UNDP in 2020 and showed that 64% of 1.2 million respondents think that climate change is a global emergency. The survey entitled "People's Climate Vote" covered 50 countries, reflecting a bit more than half of the world's population, and its results were analyzed by the University of Oxford. Find out the results.

Natallia noted that more and more officials and experts in the field are completing FAO-UNITAR courses, which is also conducive for the promotion of new ideas at the national level.

28 February 2021, Hiroshima, Japan – The NPO Hiroshima Yokogawa Sports Culture Club and the United Nations Training and Research Institute (UNITAR) are pleased to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will strengthen their mutual commitment to using the power of sports in pursuit of peacebuilding. Activities covered by the agreement will focus on sustainable development, gender equality and the empowerment of women and youth.

26 February 2021, New York, USA (Virtual) - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office, along with the Columbia Law School, hosted the “Conducting Successful Virtual Negotiations” workshop on Friday, 26 February 2021. This was the second session of the Spring 2021 Columbia Law School training series and was supported with funding allocated from the Swedish International Development Agency’s (SIDA) contribution to the UNITAR Strategic Framework Fund, under the programme ‘Leveling the Playing Field’ which focuses on the development of skills and knowledge of Least Developing Countries. Participants of all the sessions of the series will receive a certificate signed by the Dean of Columbia Law School, Gillian Lester and ASG, Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth.

25 February, Geneva Switzerland - The Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm developed by UNOSAT with the support of UN Global Pulse, the UN Secretary-General's innovation initiative, was used in the recent rapid mapping activation for seasonal floods in Mozambique.

24 February 2021, Hiroshima, Japan - UNITAR Hiroshima and the UNITAR Association will co-host “The Japanese perspective on gender”, the ninth in its public discussion series, Ideas That Matter. As part of its celebration, UNITAR Division of Prosperity will also co-host a daylong, virtual conference titled Women in STEM in Time of the Pandemic – Facing Challenges, Finding Resilience. Produced in partnership with the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES), and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), this global conference will highlight the challenges and opportunities for women in STEM (science, technology, economics and mathematics) arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.