The National Adaptation Plans (NAP), coordinated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aim to reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, by building adaptive capacity and resilience. It further facilitates the integration of climate change adaptation, in a coherent manner, into relevant new and existing policies, programmes and activities.

“We are vulnerable to tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, drought and flash floods and it’s an all year cycle,” said Lu’isa Uai Taunga, a citizen of the Kingdom of Tonga, who participated in the UNITAR Disaster Risk Reduction Training which concluded in November 2017.

Further to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015, two rounds of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of its implementation have taken place at the global level in July 2016 and July 2017 in the context of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.

With his increased technical and analytical understanding, Sopheap decided to create the agricultural geographic information webpage, where he could share everything he learned about the use of GIS in agriculture.

Achieving the SDGs requires national ownership. This workshop, which is undoubtedly the beginning of a training process for civil servants, will facilitate the implementation of the SDGs in Togo.

It’s like a first-hand experience. Some of the diplomats really played important roles in negotiating UN conflict resolutions and the SDGs. They shared their own stories of both their personal and professional lives.

Suddenly, the UN international dialogue was something that I was talking about with people, and they were keen to be involved, to support, and to learn more about it.

Once industrial facilities start to introduce and submit their PRTR, they will be much more aware of their pollution and emissions and consequently more interested in investing in greener technologies for their facilities, which contributes to sustainable development.

We saw a need for a change of attitude so we began to identify local opportunities to strengthen social cohesion and to build capacity in our own communities.

I was a middle-class family child and during my upbringing, I saw many young people in my community whose parents struggled with paying their school fees, especially those for high education. I used to ask myself ‘what can I do to help people achieve their dreams?’