UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other groups and communities who are most vulnerable, including those in conflict situations. The Institute covers topics in the broad areas of Peace (promote peaceful, just and inclusive societies), People and social inclusion(promote people’s well-being and support equitable representation of countries in global decision-making fora), Planet, environmental protection and restoration, and climate change (Support the conservation, restoration and safeguarding of our planet for present and future generations), Prosperity through sustainable economic growth (Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth), and Cross-fertilizing knowledge (Optimizing the use of technology and supporting coherence for the 2030 Agenda).
It also conducts research on innovative learning approaches, methods, and tools, as well as applied research to address critical issues, such as disaster risk reduction and humanitarian emergencies.
In 2016, UNITAR delivered 456 individual activities, including training, learning and knowledge sharing events, benefiting close to 55,000 participants – about 80% of whom were from developing countries including Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Seventy-two per cent of the Institute’s activities are delivered face-to-face, whilst twenty-eight per cent are delivered via UNITAR’s e-Learning platform. Most of UNITAR’s face-to-face activities take place at the country level, whilst some are conducted from UNITAR’s Headquarters in Geneva, as well as through its Offices in New York and Hiroshima.
UNITAR is governed by a Board of Trustees and is headed by an Executive Director.
The Institute is a project-based organization and does not receive any funds from the regular United Nations budget. UNITAR is financed entirely from voluntary contributions derived mainly from UN Member States, other UN agencies, international and intergovernmental organizations, foundations NGOs and the private sector.
They work in the spirit of leaving no one behind and they strive to reach the furthest first. To achieve this, our training plan depends also on donor support. They appeal to donor countries and other donor entities to help us so they can design and deliver high-quality training especially to countries in special situations.
