GENEVA: Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres has renewed the membership of Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri in the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) until 2027.
Guterres had chosen Dr Al Marri in 2020 due to his work and activities with a number of United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the International Criminal Court.
Dr Al Marri participated in the 56th session of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, which was held in Geneva on November 21 and 22.
The Board of Trustees, chaired by Luis Gallegos, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, listened to the annual report presented by the Executive Director Nickel Seth, in which he detailed the volume of training provided by the international organisation to nearly 140,000 beneficiaries in a large and diverse number of training programmes that focus primarily on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by establishing new programs and creating partnerships with various sectors working in the field of development, in addition to working to identify new global challenges and design programs capable of dealing with them.
The Board also discussed future projects and the financial budget and concluded its meetings by electing a new Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute, Ebbe Petersen, Permanent Representative of Denmark in Geneva. The Board of Trustees also elected Amina Mohamed, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, as Vice-Chair.
The institute's annual strategy emphasizes the participation of people, working to preserve the planet, and establishing long-term strategies to achieve the Institute's goals, including the United Nations system, international financial institutions, transnational corporations, the private sector, and governments.
The institute's Board of Trustees includes a number of ministers, ambassadors and permanent delegates accredited to the United Nations in Geneva and New York, in addition to a number of representatives of non-governmental organizations.