24 March 2023, New York, USA – In the framework of the UN 2023 Water Conference UNITAR hosted the side event “Promoting Water Culture through Learning & Action”. The overall objective of the side event is to mobilize support and expertise to deliver innovative training and build human capacities on pressing water-related issues at a large scale.

22 March 2023, New York, USA – Between 22-24 March 2023, The UN 2023 Water Conference reconvenes after nearly 50 years since the 1977 UN Water Conference. The Conference serves as an opportunity for Member States, UN entities, and stakeholders to share commitments that aim to contribute to the implementation of water-related SDGs and associated targets. These voluntary commitments will be collected in the Water Action Agenda to accelerate progress in the second half of the Water Action Decade 2018-2028 and the second half of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

22 March 2023, New York, USA - UNITAR, York University, the Regional Municipality of York (York Region) and York Regional Police renewed its partnership agreement to foster sustainable development in Canada. This agreement aims to deliver joint training and professional development activities, which target – mainly – government officials, leaders, civil society and other interested parties in the areas of safety mobility including road safety, mental health, gender equality, entrepreneurship and economic growth, and climate change, amongst others.

21 March 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR’s network of affiliated training centres CIFAL Global Network (CGN) serve as hubs for the exchange of knowledge on development-related topics including water-related issues. The impact and scope of the CGN capture a wide range of stakeholders, with special emphasis on local authorities and civil society leaders, offering cutting-edge learning and training to close to 90,000 beneficiaries per year.

Module 4 "Measuring the state of the oceans" of the UNEP-UNSIAP-UNITAR Massive Open Online Course is offered as a stand-alone module with a certificate of completion. The module explains the importance of measuring the state of oceans and describes various challenges that countries and the international community are facing in monitoring the state of oceans overall. It also discusses international plans for sustainable development that cover oceans and incorporate specific action plans in monitoring their state. It provides an overview of SDG 14 with detailed methodologies for calculating four indicators that are under UNEP custodianship, namely SDG indicator 14.1.1a, SDG indicator 14.1.1b, SDG indicator 14.2.1, and SDG Indicator 14.5.1. Additionally, the module briefly describes two non-UNEP indicators that are related to oceans – SDG indicator 14.3.1 and 14.4.1.

The sustainable energy pillar at the Division for Peace in UNITAR hosts the coordination unit for Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (GPA). With a consortium of 16 United Nations and International Non-Governmental Organizations, the goal of the GPA is to ensure that the displaced people around the world have access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.

7 March 2023, Phnom Penh, Cambodia - On March 2 and 3, 2023, the Autosobriety Training Programme to Prevent Drink Driving kicked off at Phnom Penh International University and brought together 22 trainers from local high schools, public and private universities

7 March 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR and SmarterChains, an online Industry 4.0 transformation platform, are pleased to announce their partnership to establish an online learning platform for Industry 4.0.

2 March 2023, Cascais, Portugal - UNITAR and Nova School of Business & Economics (Nova SBE) join forces to establish the first International Training Centre for Authorities and Leaders (CIFAL) in Cascais, Portugal. The partnership with Nova SBE recognizes its work on applied research and commitment to developing new approaches that will help meet society’s most urgent challenges by providing innovative training and facilitating the exchange of knowledge amongst government officials, the private sector, and civil society.

GOPAC and UNITAR are organizing a Parliamentary Dialogue on UNCAC. The Dialogue aims to explore perspectives, practices, lesson-learned from parliament in several areas, including how parliamentarians can improve their oversight role and establish specific parliamentary measures to implement the convention's provisions effectively.