In response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, when over half of the world’s population was in lockdown and people were encouraged to use the time to self-study and learn new skills, we’ve maintained an overview of e-Learning tools and online courses offered by the United Nations System. There are hundreds of courses available, covering a wide range of topics, from sustainable development to human rights, climate change to nuclear safety, and many more.

Pick a course from the list below and get started.

New UN course helps cut through the noise to bolster online safety
(UN News, 3 November 2022)

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1130167

 

DESA – United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Digital Learning Centre

https://www.un.org/development/desa/cdpmo/digital-learning-centre

DESA’s Digital Learning Centre offers courses for anyone seeking knowledge and skills necessary to implement, follow up, and review the 2030 Agenda.

see also: “Knowledge-sharing is a superpower”:

https://www.un.org/en/desa/knowledge-sharing-superpower

 

ECA – Economic Commission for Africa, African Institute for Economic Development and Planning

IDEP eLearning Platform

https://elearningidep.uneca.org/

Since its creation, IDEP works to assist African governments in their training efforts and capacity building in the areas of economic management and planning. With this regards, it works closely with African member states to assess their needs and develop general courses, specialized and tailored to their frames of senior and middle levels.

ECLAC – Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribean

ECLAC Training

https://www.cepal.org/en/training

Training is an integral part of the technical cooperation that ECLAC offers its member countries. The beneficiaries are usually technical staff and decision-makers in public authorities, but may also include academic experts and opinion-makers in civil society. The courses and workshops promoted, supported or organized by ECLAC offer participants the opportunity to learn about and share experiences concerning development in various countries and to strengthen their professional skills and competencies in specific areas related to the Commission’s work.

ESCAP – Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific

ESCAP Learning and Training Programmes

https://www.unescap.org/learning-training

The main objective of ESCAP’s capacity development work is to develop the technical, managerial and institutional capacities of member and associate member governments to plan and deliver more effective policies and programmes in support of inclusive and sustainable development with special attention to least developed and landlocked developing countries as well as small island developing states. In this effort the various sub-programmes of ESCAP develop e-learning courses, training programmes, tools and other online platforms to help member governments increase their institutional capacity to address development challenges as well as share technical knowledge in order that Asia and the Pacific fulfill the 2030 development agenda. A listing of these platforms is available below.

 

ESCWA – Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

ESCWA E-learning portal

https://learn.unescwa.org/

 

FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAO elearning Academy

https://elearning.fao.org/

The FAO elearning Academy provides learning opportunities and multilingual elearning courses for professionals working in food and nutrition security, social and economic development, and sustainable management of natural resources, with the overall goal of strengthening the capacity of member countries to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The FAO elearning Academy offers free access to content on a variety of topics of global interest, which is available in a range of formats, including elearning courses for self-paced learning, blended learning programmes, massive open online courses (MOOCs), technical webinars, online tutored courses, mobile learning, face-to-face training workshops and university master’s and postgraduate degree programmes.

Let these six FAO e-learning courses shape a new you in this new year: Broaden your knowledge of food, agriculture and rural development in 2022 (27 December 2021)

https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1364884/

HRC – Human Rights Council

e-Learning tool on the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/TrustFund/Pages/Tool.aspx

 

Interactive, accessible and gender-aware, the e-Learning tool is designed for government officials from LDCs and SIDS as per the mandate of the Trust Fund. However, any government official in charge of human rights issues can use it.
The e-Learning Tool can also be useful for UN staff members who are based in the field and headquarters, staff members of regional and international organizations/groups, representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations, members of national human rights institutions and interns who would like to familiarize themselves with the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.

IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency

IAEA Education and Training

https://www.iaea.org/services/education-and-training

 

The IAEA offers a wide spectrum of education and training activities. These include face-to-face training courses and workshops, as well as online learning, fellowship programmes and schools on various nuclear-related topics.

Stuck in Self Isolation? Here are Hundreds of IAEA Online Courses for Free 
(News, 26 March 2020)

New Course Catalogue Improves Access to Over 480 Online Courses and Webinars by the IAEA (23 March 2022)

CyberLearning Platform for Network Education and Training (CLP4NET)
https://elearning.iaea.org/

Online courses on nuclear safety and security, radiation protection, sustainable energy development, the use of nuclear applications and more

IFAD – International Fund for Agricultural Development
https://www.ifad.org/en/web/knowledge/e-learning

Browse e-learning courses on rural and agricultural development issues.

ILO – International Labour Organization

e-Learning tools on child labour

https://www.ilo.org/ipec/Informationresources/elearning/lang–en/index.html

The courses are designed to help to better understand what child labour is and the key role ILO stakeholders can play.

ITC-ILO – The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization

https://www.itcilo.org/courses

The ITC is an advanced technical and vocational training institution and offers learning, knowledge-sharing, and institutional capacity-building programmes for governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations, and development partners. It aims to be a forum where development intersects with all forms of knowledge in the world of work, from tripartism to technology. As a multicultural hub for learning, the Centre welcomes everyone, regardless of gender, race, or class.

ILO launches Massive Open Online Course “Making Universal Social Protection a Reality” (25 January 2023):

https://www.ilo.org/secsoc/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_866359/lang–en/index.htm

InforMEA learning

https://elearning.informea.org/

InforMEA is the United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements. It is a one-stop portal for information on Multilateral Environmental Agreements – or MEAs – searchable by key terms across treaty texts, COP decisions, national plans and reports, laws, court decisions and more.
The portal includes an E-learning platform containing more than 30 courses in over 60 language versions. All courses are free of charge, self-paced, multilingual nad offer certificates of completion.

 

IMF – International Monetary Fund

IMF Online Learning

https://www.imf.org/external/np/ins/english/learning.htm

The IMF Online Learning Program aims at strengthening the technical knowledge and expertise in government agencies with a view to developing and implementing sound economic and financial policies fostering stability and growth. Our online training program makes the IMF expertise in key macroeconomic and financial issues available anytime, anywhere, and with free access for all.

Government officials and members of the general public are welcome to learn with first-class IMF experts about macroeconomic analysis and policies, including on public debt and public financial management, central banking law, inclusive growth, macroeconomic statistics, and more.

 

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