Tailor-made Training

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research designs and conducts worldwide training and capacity building activities.
 
Being the only training institution in the United Nations system with a specific mandate to carry out training programmes for UN Member States, UNITAR has the experience to offer tailor-made courses that respond to the specific needs and priorities of UN Member States, international governmental or non-governmental organizations and/or other entities. At their request and/or in partnership with intergovernmental organizations, UNITAR’s International Law Programme organizes and implements specifically designed training activities on various international law topics.
 
The duration, content and structure of these demand-driven activities are designed and defined in close consultation with the beneficiaries and partner organizations taking into consideration the specific needs, background and priorities of the targeted beneficiaries.
 
Participants/Target Group
The modular structure of the international law training activities makes it possible to create a tailor-made course for any given target group.
 
Tailor-made courses target government officials from foreign affairs and specialized ministries as well as representatives from intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the private sector and universities.
 
Participants can be from the same country or the same region or sub-region. To optimize the training, a group is usually limited to 25-30 participants.
 
Training Venue
Training courses can be conducted at UN Headquarters, regional UN offices or in the requesting country itself. In-country courses have the highest cost-benefit ratio because the resource person travels to the participants, not vice versa. Another advantage is that the trainees do not need to leave their workplaces for weeks.

If the training course takes place away from UNITAR’s headquarters, UNITAR will normally cooperate closely with the local UNDP Country Office.

Resource Persons/Trainers
The trainers and resource persons selected by UNITAR are experts in the fields of international relations, diplomatic practice and international law from academic and international circles, including practitioners from both within and outside the United Nations system.
 
Language
All training activities can be offered in English, French and/or Spanish. Interpretation to other United Nations official languages (Arabic, Chinese and Russian) can be provided at an additional cost. Participants need a good working knowledge of the language of the course in order to participate meaningfully in group discussions, exercises and simulations.
 
Financing
ILP’s tailor-made training programmes are financed entirely from extra-budgetary sources. This means that for each tailor-made training activity the requesting countries and organizers must raise the required funds for the course.
 
Possible donors can be approached to finance UNITAR’s training programmes and in most cases the activities are funded either entirely or partially by one or several donor agencies in the form of a special purpose grant. Member States or organizations requesting the training can also contribute in-kind, such as providing the training facilities and covering logistical expenses for the participants.

In some cases, costs may even be shared with neighbouring countries by organizing a training activity at the sub-regional or regional level.

There is no need to wait until the full project budget has been secured before contacting UNITAR. While it remains the responsibility of the requesting entity to secure full funding, UNITAR is often able to assist in the fundraising process. When submitting a request, it is thus important to identify possible sources of funding and indicate if contact has already been made.