New York, USA .- During his final meetings in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the UNITAR Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth met the Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina Mohammed to talk about UNITAR’s forthcoming plans including the new Board of Trustees members. Mr. Seth pointed to the need for strengthened coherence of UNITAR programming with broader UN efforts, and the need to help tapping other types of funding. The necessity to find an efficient mechanism for small UN entities to contribute to broader UN efforts was discussed. He called to take actions to work more closely with country teams to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda more effectively.
Similarly, a very productive meeting with the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Abdulla Shahid, took place to discuss about ongoing projects such as the “Fellowship for Hope 2022 Programme” which involves the participation of eight Fellows accredited to the office of the President. The Fellows are building their diplomatic skills through substantive knowledge content and dealing with various critical global issues. UNITAR is at the heart of this process providing the Fellows with richer exposure to the inner working of the UN system.
One of the key meetings of the Executive Director was with the Under Secretary-General (USG) for Economic and Social Affairs Mr. Liu Zhenmin, to discuss the importance of collaboration of Agenda 2030 team on policy coherence with support to Governments of Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius. Two analytical papers have been developed and presented for the latest ongoing collaboration. Both principals also discussed the upcoming “SDGs Learning, Training and Practice” special event which will feature a series of capacity building and knowledge learning sessions in connection with this year’s UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), organized by UNITAR and UNDESA.
Mr. Seth has expanded the message to USG for Counter Terrorism Mr. Vladimir Voronkov on UNITAR’s invaluable support on Ukraine including damage assessment, cultural heritage, and direct support in some areas. As a part of a deep and lasting relationship, he has spoken on UNITAR’s support to establish cooperation in Rabat, support Afghanistan and Yemen, more oriented to community policing training. This includes collaboration on research activities focusing on mapping border community grievances, community-oriented policing polices, counter-smuggling operations, as well as terrorism and transnational organized crime.
The Executive Director also briefed the Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Rule of Law and Security Institutions Mr. Alexandre Zouev to talk how UNITAR could support United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in enhancing the capacity of national institutions and implement the advocacy of the UN mine action.
Furthermore, Mr. Seth briefed the Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed on UNITAR’s strong partnership with the African Union through several projects. In addition, he highlighted that under the current political and security situation, UNITAR can be in a position to better support the African Union and its organs.
The visit was also an occasion for UNITAR Executive Director to encounter with the USG for Political Affairs Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo to comment on UNITAR’s desire to partnership with the Department for Political Affairs in enhancing the capacity of regional, sub-regional, and national institutions on conflict prevention, negotiations, and mediation through its Division for Peace.
Mr. Seth updated the Head of Development Coordination Office Mr. Robert Piper on the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) and its potentially support to more countries, particularly in the area of macro-economics and environment. UNITAR is one of the founding members of PAGE in 2012 with a focus on building human capacities. In addition, PAGE has contributed to the guidance of Economic Transformation Analysis bringing a perspective on how to better link economics and environment pillars. Finally, Mr. Seth met the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner, to discuss resource mobilization through decentralized cooperation.
To conclude, Mr. Seth was present during the join signature of the Memorandum of Understanding along with Founder of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) & Instituto Global de Altos Estudios en Ciencias Sociales (IGLOBAL) and former President of the Dominican Republic Dr. Leonel Fernández. They both announced this new partnership to provide a cooperative framework and implement new activities. Their events will enable students to benefit from courses and masters’ programmes offered through UNITAR, FUNGLODE and IGLOBAL. This partnership will contribute to a growing global network of actors seeking to approach on substantive issues as sustainable development, climate change, and Agenda 2030.
