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Many people see the internet as the best means of communicating, reporting and sharing information while others see it as a link between people, offices, countries and the rest of the world.

During my internship with the United Nations Development Operations Coordination Office (UNDOCO), we organized a virtual innovation fair devoted to Real Time or Frequent Monitoring.  With only coffee as an incentive, Rose Sherman and Mita Paramita from Brightfront Group did all the leg work.

People are eager to talk about development if they are asked. Last year, the UN Agencies in Albania embarked on a dynamic journey to develop the new United Nations Development Action Framework (UNDAF) - the UN strategic plan which aims to help Albania advance its development agenda and create a better life for citizens.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development builds on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) priorities while setting the world’s sights on emerging health and development challenges. Tobacco control is among the greatest of these, as tobacco use is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory illness – the four main non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that now account for the bulk of illness and deaths globally.

The UN has been in Haiti a long time. The most recent iteration of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) arrived 11 years ago. And it has been ‘shall we stay or shall we go’, for some years now. Maybe 2016 is the year where, finally, the decision to wrap up a full peace keeping mission does happen. For real. And for many, Haitians and UN colleagues alike, it is about time.

The first phase of the ECOSOC dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system captured Member State’s views on UN functions, funding, governance, organizational arrangements, capacity, impact, partnership and change-management.

Tech-savvy young people are exploring innovative ways to use mobile technologies, creating the change they wish to see. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ‘Hack For Youth’ challenged 80 participants from 17 countries to design and develop creative solutions to sexual and reproductive health issues affecting their lives.

Public communications can be challenging in Iran, the country where I work. But we must be visible. Why? If we can show people that we are doing good

Ideas for driving progress at the dawn of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have emerged from Zambia’s experience in shaping the post-2015 development agenda.

When crisis strikes, data – normally provided by national counterparts – suddenly can be in short supply, or outright unavailable. Each organization scrambles to find, or produce, the basic data they need to function in the crisis, with little time to consider common data needs, common collection systems or data sharing. The result is often translated into disconnected or overlapping responses, or simply the lack of appropriate responses.