UNITAR e-Newsletter

2nd edition 2017

Strengthening and Supporting Civil Society Space

The role of civil society in achieving the Future We Want by 2030 cannot be underestimated. Progress on global goals and agreements, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Climate Change Agreement and other international and global frameworks, rely on the commitment, momentum and mobilisation of civil society to make real transformational change.

UNITAR has an important responsibility to strengthen and support civil society space, to ensure that we foster the alignment of civil society with international agendas. UNITAR’s outreach to civil society through innovative training, networks, capacity building and awareness raising is powerful in promoting opportunities for dialogue and in ensuring that civil society are well equipped to translate and transmit their work effectively into policy spaces.

UNITAR works with a broad range of civil society actors and NGOs, as well as with the media, private sector and youth. We also work with governments to ensure the correct processes and mechanisms are in place to facilitate multistakeholder engagement in national policy making processes.

Working with civil society, through UNITAR’s networks such as the CIFAL global network, leverages UNITAR’s impact on the ground, and we must strive to do more, working together with the OHCHR and other international organizations which aim to promote and protect the rights of civil society actors and their space.

Nikhil Seth, Executive Director

Training Needs to Reach the SDGs by 2030

Almost twenty months after the historic adoption of the goals and targets contained in the 2030 Agenda, the time has come to identify the bottlenecks which will impact their realization. I focus only on the promise to reach the furthest first while leaving no one behind. The UN membership of 193 has almost half of its membership which are either severely conflict distressed and/or severely development distressed.

When Climate Change Becomes Word of Mouth

A breakthrough initiative by the One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership is bringing students together via video link to talk about climate change, informing the climate debate and adding new perspectives to climate change education across the globe.

UNITAR Supports Civil Society with Multi-Sector Training Programmes

The UNITAR Hiroshima Office is increasing its focus on civil society engagement in its training programmes, always with a multi-sector approach that fosters dialogue between civil society and government, as well as private sector organizations. Fellowship programmes for South Sudan and Iraq, anti-corruption programmes for North Africa and the Sahel region, and a training programme on tsunami Disaster Risk Reduction for women from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) all bring together participants from civil society and other sectors.

CIFAL Global Network’s Engagement with Civil Society

Civil Society comprises the wide array of non-governmental organizations, not-for-profit organizations, civil society organizations (CSO) and actors that have presence in public life around shared interests, purposes or values. UNITAR recognizes the need to partner with and to support civil society. The active engagement of civil society actors is essential for effective action on global priorities. The advancement towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a global partnership that brings together governments, the private sector, civil society, the United Nations system and other actors to mobilize available resources.

Announcements

New On-line Master in International Affairs and Diplomacy

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) have launched a new On-line Master in International Affairs and Diplomacy that will start in March 2018.

UNITAR and UN Environment Launch New Course on Environmental Governance

UNITAR and UN Environment joined forces to launch a 3-hour self-paced online course to help ensure that as many people as possible understand the fundamentals of good environmental governance. The objectives of the course are to raise awareness and understanding of how international environmental agreements and policies are made, by whom, and how they are complied with, and enforced.

Five years on conflicts in Syria - New technologies for the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Aleppo

UNITAR - UNOSAT in collaboration with UNESCO and ICOMEN UNITAR organized a special event on 3rd of July at the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee Poland 2017.

Master in the United Nations and the Art of Peace

The Master’s Degree in the United Nations and the Art of Peace focuses on the study of 70 years of UN action in the fields of peace-making, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. It aims to allow students to become more knowledgeable on the matter as well as profit directly from the hindsight of the United Nations and academic experts in order to better assess and apprehend peace initiatives and understand the processes of preserving, defending and promoting peace in all their complexity.

Introductory e-Course on Climate Change is now available in Chinese

The UN CC:Learn introductory e-Course on Climate Change, which gathered 86,000 participants from around the world, is now available in Chinese!

Workshop - Business Leading the Way: the SDGs as a Tool for Sustainability and Growth

UNITAR, in cooperation with UNDESA and SDGF, with the generous support of EcoVadis, will co-organize the HLPF private sector training workshop “Business leading the way: the SDGs as a tool for sustainability and growth". The workshop will take place on 13 July 2017 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF).

Partnerships

UNITAR-UNOSAT and Radiant.Earth Partner for Greater Impact from Earth Observations

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) through its Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) and Radiant.Earth, have agreed to explore new Earth observation data innovations supporting humanitarian disaster management, global health, climate change, sustainable water management and cultural heritage.

UNITAR assists UN ECA/IDEP in developing and delivering online training programmes for African countries on economic development

Since the late 1980s, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has been constantly at the forefront of developing and delivering training to strengthen the skills of trade and finance sector officials from developing countries and transition economies. In 2003, UNITAR’s Public Finance and Trade Programme (PFTP) progressively introduced new methodologies based on Information and Communication Technologies, such as e-Learning, to offer affordable and flexible training and networking opportunities to member states.

FAO and UNITAR expands collaboration to deliver training on Trade and Food Security

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently signed an agreement to develop and deliver a series of online courses with special focus on trade and food security for trade and agriculture officials from 12 post-Soviet countries and 24 countries from Eastern and Southern Africa.

United Nations Institute for Training and Research
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CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
http://www.unitar.org/