UNITAR Newsletter - Spring 2009

Editorial

By His Excellency Tõnis Nirk, Chairman of the UNITAR Board of Trustees

Ambassador Nirk has been serving as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Estonia to the UN Office at Geneva since 2004. He formerly occupied positions of Deputy Under-Secretary for Foreign Economic Affairs, and Director General at the Foreign Economic Policy Department, in the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As Chairman of the Board of Trustees of UNITAR, I have pleasure in presenting current achievements and emerging trends of the Institute.

In Focus

UNITAR designated to lead the Global Migration Group

In June 2009, UNITAR will assume the chairmanship of the Global Migration Group (GMG) for a six-month period. This inter-agency body, comprised of 14 UN and non-UN organizations working in this field, aims to promote the wider application of migration-related international and regional instruments and norms, and to provide coherent and strong leadership to improve the overall effectiveness of the international community in their response to migration issues.

Special Guest

Sharing values on human rights and development

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and UNITAR board member

Dr. Shirin Ebadi is a lawyer specialized in human rights, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work. Dr. Ebadi also teaches at the University of Tehran. In the years 1975-1979 she served as the president of the city court of Tehran, one of the first female judges in Iran.

How do you see UNITAR’s role?

SE: In my opinion, everything starts with education and research. By enhancing UNITAR’s research potential, the results of future research activities will strengthen the educational capacities of the Institute. Furthermore, I believe that the way UNITAR encourages the sharing of best practices between stakeholders in round table events is an excellent way of operating, because people often do not have the opportunity for such exchanges of information. However, education should not be aimed exclusively at government representatives but rather at experts from civil society.

Trends & Activities

Environment@UNITAR

By Achim Halpaap, Associate Director, Training Department and Head, Environment Unit

UNITAR organized its first environmental training course on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the late 1980’s, jointly with UNEP. At the time, questions were raised concerning the relevance of this training for developing countries. Two decades later, programme alumni hold key positions in government and research institutions and play an instrumental role in fostering the application of modern information technologies for protecting the environment. Times are gone where the applicability of GIS in a developing country context is questioned. Knowledge sharing and training matter!

Knowledge to lead

Becoming climate neutral

On 2 December 2008, UNITAR promulgated its first generation 2008-2009 Climate Neutral Policy and Strategy. The initiative is a swift response to the call of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the 2008 decision of the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB), to move the UN System towards climate neutral operations over the next years. The policy was adopted at a time when more than 150 governments are negotiating a new international framework agreement on climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Poznań, 1-12 December 2008.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Journeys with the Executive Director

Dr Carlos Lopes is the Executive Director of UNITAR, and Director of the United Nations System Staff College in Turin. Dr. Lopes was previously UN Assistant-Secretary-General and Political Director in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, in New York.

Life for Dr Carlos Lopes, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director (ED) of UNITAR, inevitably involves much travel and time spent away from the Geneva headquarters. Whether visiting UNITAR’s offices, building partnerships or meeting with heads of other international organisations, these visits are an integral part of the strategic goals of reinforcing the Institute’s capacities to increase outreach and develop further its activities.