31 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - New technologies are profoundly changing the financial industry. The demand for digital solutions is surging, and both private and public institutions are heavily investing in R&D, especially in the field of digital currencies. Learn the economic mechanisms behind different fintech innovations.

Toronto, Canada, 31 May 2021– As a leader in the effort to build a more socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable world, York University and UNITAR are proud to announce the establishment of Canada’s first Centre International de Formation des Acteurs Locaux (CIFAL).

31 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - The Clean Energy Challenge is a multi-stakeholder effort to address collectively energy challenges and help deliver a high-energy, low-carbon future for displaced populations by 2030. Led by UNHCR and UNITAR as the Global Platform for Action (GPA) Secretariat, it aligns the humanitarian community with Climate Action and the UN’s efforts in Greening the Blue. More than 250 personnel have joined the challenge from various organizations including private companies, international/national NGOs, research institute, UN agencies, donor/philanthropic organizations, etc.

27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland and Beijing, China - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Geneva School of Economics and Management of the University of Geneva and the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set global standards for SDG Education and Open Innovation.

28 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - The new course, entitled Harnessing Digital Financial Technologies for Sustainable Development, places two of the world’s megatrends into focus that all of us experience on a daily basis: digital revolution and sustainable development.

On 27th May 2021, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), which is a partner in the EU-funded Crowd4SDG project, organised a panel discussion “Unleashing the potential of citizen science data for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” as part of the Crowd4SDG project. The panel had a two-fold objective – to disseminate emerging good practices among National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and National Statistical Systems (NSSs) on leveraging citizen science for monitoring progress on SDGs and related national and local level objectives, and to create space for discussing the needs of NSOs that could be addressed through concrete citizen science projects using a challenge-based approach. Aligned with this objective, the event was conducted in two parts. The first part focussed on the key findings and recommendations from the Crowd4SDG study and case studies on the use of citizen science data for monitoring SDGs. This was followed by the presentation of Crowd4SDG tools for citizen science, the discussion on the needs of NSOs and NSSs and a call for official statistics challenges for the Crowd4SDG citizen science competition to open in summer 2021.

27 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - On 27 and 28 September 2021, the University Global Coalition, in partnership with the United Nations, under UNITAR's continuous support and ongoing partnership, will host its second annual conference, successively after its first online gathering in 2020. UNITAR stands among the founding signatory members of the Coalition, and is represented in its Steering Committee by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth.

25 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland – The President of the 74th World Health Assembly and Minister of Health, Royal Government of Bhutan, Ms Dechen Wangmo visited the Defeat-NCD Partnership’s office at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in Geneva today to set the tone at a high-level panel discussion aimed at tackling the twin challenges of COVID-19 and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). “I understand that time has passed for mere statements and rhetoric in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of universal access to health”, she said. “It is time to act now”.

The UNITAR Iraq Entrepreneurship and Leadership Youth Training Programme is a fellowship initiative that provides youth with skills in entrepreneurship and leadership to develop or strengthen local businesses that contribute to social and economic stability in their country. In this Impact Story, we review the extent to which participants have applied or transferred knowledge and skills from the programme and the challenges encountered by them and spotlight the experiences from three participants.

19 May 2021, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - The “Autosobriety Training Programme to Prevent Drink-Driving” kicks off today, resulting from a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between INTRANT, UNITAR and Pernod Ricard, with the common ambition to reduce alcohol-related road crashes in the Dominican Republic.