This is UNITAR’s annual training programme marking World Tsunami Awareness Day, financed by the Government and People of Japan. It runs in two phases: roughly 500 participants take an online course from August to November 2026, and the strongest performers are invited to a further workshop in early 2027. The teaching covers the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, ecosystem-based and community-based approaches to disaster risk, and gender-inclusive leadership, and each participant works towards an inclusive disaster risk reduction plan shaped to their own community and country.
The programme belongs to the Shimanami Collective portfolio run from UNITAR’s Hiroshima office and has trained more than 500 leaders since 2016, most of them women from the Pacific Islands. Despite the title, the 2026 call invites motivated people of any gender.
Benefits & funding
- No fee at all: the programme is offered free of charge through the financial support of the Government and People of Japan.
- Around 500 places in Phase I, made up of self-paced online modules, webinars with practitioners, and assignments.
- Top-performing Phase I participants advance to Phase II: an online workshop for participants from Asia and non-Pacific countries in February 2027, or an in-person workshop with study tours for participants from the Pacific in March.
- Specialised lectures and discussions with regional and international institutions, academics and humanitarian experts.
- A UNITAR certificate for participants who complete all requirements.
- The programme publishes no stipend, salary or travel grant, and the call does not state which costs are covered for the Pacific in-person workshop.
Eligibility
- Aged 18 or older.
- Open to motivated people of any gender.
- Able to study in English, use a computer and access the internet; Phase I is delivered online in English, while Phase II is online for participants from Asia and non-Pacific countries and in person for Pacific participants.
- Committed to disaster risk reduction and climate action in their own community.
- Applicants are especially encouraged from 14 Pacific Island countries and territories: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
- And from 15 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam.
- Applicants from other countries are also welcome, so nationality is not a bar; the routing of the Phase II workshop depends on whether a participant is from the Pacific.
- No degree, employer, or minimum years of experience is required.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs
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Application process
- 1Read the 2026 call for applications on the UNITAR website.
- 2Fill in the online application form linked from that call; applications sent by email are not accepted.
- 3Submit before 21 August 2026, 11:59 p.m. JST (UTC+9).
- 4Selected applicants begin Phase I online training in August 2026 and study through to November 2026.
- 5Complete the modules, webinars and assignments; the top performers are invited to a Phase II workshop in early 2027.
Program timeline
Application deadline, 11:59 p.m. JST (UTC+9)
Aug 21, 2026
Phase I online training
2026-08 to 2026-11
Phase II online workshop for participants from Asia and non-Pacific countries
2027-02
Phase II in-person workshop for participants from the Pacific
2027-03