24th UN Organization Joins UN Family in Bonn

UNU/UNITAR SCYCLE

23 October 2020, Bonn, Germany - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is now the 24th and newest member of the UN family in Bonn. UNITAR, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, opens its third out-posted office in the UN City in Germany, following the offices in the United States (New York) and Japan (Hiroshima). The Institute has several project offices and affiliated training centres around the world.

The Bonn office will provide a full range of services spanning its work across all pillars of Agenda 2030, together with flagship programmes on multilateral diplomacy, climate change learning, e-waste, non-communicable disease, conflict prevention, peacekeeping, satellite analysis and applied research.

“We are very pleased to establish a new office in Germany. Bonn’s impact as a global capital for sustainability and climate protection, as well as the German Federal Government’s support to UNITAR made it a strategic choice for UNITAR,” said Nikhil Seth, UNITAR’s Executive Director, at the official launch event.

Over the years, UNITAR has acquired unique expertise and experience in designing and delivering a variety of capacity-building activities. The Institute has become a leading provider of customized and creative learning solutions for organizations and individuals from both public and private sectors as a means for enhancing global decision-making and supporting country-level action to shape a better future. The strategic opening of the UNITAR Bonn office increases UNITAR’s focuses on research and on delivering more analytical work linked to high-quality products and services.

The beneficiary groups will mainly be from developing countries and small island states, as well as groups and communities in vulnerable or conflict-stricken situations. By supporting the spread of real innovation toward an inclusive and sustainable future, the UNITAR Bonn office will also prioritize post-industrialized countries, which often have unsustainable patterns and thus endanger limited natural resources and the well-being of future generations.

Today’s virtual launch event included welcoming remarks by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador (who also serves as Chair of UNITAR’s Board of Trustees), the German government (through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the government of North-Rhine Westphalia, the Lord Major of Bonn, the Representative of the European Commission in Germany, the University of Bonn and the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg Chamber of Commerce.

UNITAR-SCYCLE/UNU

Two UNITAR thematic pillars, the Division for Planet and the Division for Peace, have taken office at the UN Campus as of September. Following a recent agreement, UNITAR now co-hosts the Sustainable Cycles Programme (SCYCLE) with the United Nations University as a means for gradually integrating SCYCLE projects and services by the end of 2021. The SCYCLE programme focuses on promoting concepts of circular economy that originate out of previous approaches to achieving sustainability, such as Zero Emissions/Waste, Industrial Ecology, Natural Capitalism, Factor X, the Natural Step and Cradle to Cradle principles. SCYCLE provides a one-stop shop for research and training associated with the production, usage and disposal of ubiquitous goods (such as electronics, batteries and automotive) and works with multiple partners across industry, businesses, regions and municipalities, as well as across academia and non-governmental actors.

UNITAR’s Division for Peace will increase its activities focused on conflict prevention and mediation, pre-deployment training, Rule of Law, Youth and Women Empowerment, post-conflict stabilization and Resilience and Recovery out of the Bonn office. Likewise, the UNITAR Bonn Office will further facilitate UN Peacekeeping as a well-trained police force helps countries achieve lasting peace, supports political processes, protects hundreds of thousands of civilians and helps guarantee ceasefires. Research and trainings are necessary and strategic investments.

Moreover, the UNITAR Bonn office will take over research and trainings outsourced from other UN organizations and will play a leading role in informing and educating key players regarding the UN’s deliverables to the population of Bonn, North-Rhine Westphalia and Germany as a way of empowering people and transforming lives.

The launch took place on the day before this year’s United Nations Day, marking the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter’s entry into force in 1945. Bonn’s annual UN Day celebration on the market square is taking place as an exhibition along the Rhine, consisting of large banners with information about the UN Bonn organizations.

For more informaiton

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Bonn Office, UN Campus, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Head of Office: Mr. Ruediger KUEHR

Tel: +49-228-815 0213/4

bonn@unitar.org | www.unitar.org | www.scycle.info

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