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2020-2025 REPORT

Five Years with the Blue Line

A Learning Community that Makes a Difference

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Introduction

Where it started and where we plan to go

Five years ago, in 2020, the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) embarked on an ambitious journey to reimagine how UN personnel access knowledge, build skills, and prepare for evolving global challenges. This journey gave rise to The Blue Line and its bold vision: to provide all UN personnel with access to self-directed and personalized learning, enabling them to take ownership of their professional development and fostering a culture of continuous learning and shared knowledge.

More than just an e-learning platform, the Blue Line became a thriving learning ecosystem where UN colleagues across continents come together to learn, share, and grow. Today, as we reflect on the past five years, the data tells a story not just of adoption and growth, but of a community transformed.

This report presents data for the Blue Line covering the period from April 2020 through October 2025. All figures and analyses reflect information available up to that date. Any developments, updates, or changes occurring after October 2025 are not included in this report.

Voices from the line

Why personnel join the Blue Line

So, why do UN personnel come together in the Blue Line? The answer lies in the dynamic needs of a workforce striving to adapt, grow, and lead in a complex global environment.

    Our analysis uncovered five compelling reasons:


  • Leadership and Management Development, where participants build the strategic acumen and team-leadership capabilities needed in today’s complex environment;
  • Skill Enhancement, which sharpens the core technical, linguistic, and digital proficiencies essential for daily effectiveness and career progression;
  • Career & Personal Growth, empowering individuals to craft self-directed development plans and pursue continuous learning;
  • Essential Training for Key UN Roles, delivering mandatory and compliance-driven courses that ensure readiness for critical functions; and
  • Exploration of New Topics, satisfying innate curiosity by exposing staff to emerging areas of expertise.
Together, these five themes reveal why our workforce invests in the Blue Line: to lead more confidently, perform more competently, grow more intentionally, and discover fresh horizons of impact.
The Blue Line feels like you have a personalised education. It’s easy to use. It’s a great, flexible learning environment. There’s a wide course variety, and you can mold the learning experience to your needs.
Lee Everts
Macroeconomics and Governance Division, UN Secretariat

Our Learning Community

A Growing Community of Learners

At the heart of the Blue Line lies its diverse community of over 60,000+ colleagues from 195+ duty stations, who have registered, accessed the platform, explored learning paths, and completed modules, contributing to a rich and dynamic learning environment.

The learner community reflects the broad diversity of the UN itself — from early-career professionals to senior leaders, working on peace and security, humanitarian assistance, sustainable development, human rights, and operations in both field missions and headquarters.
If each of us took a seat, we’d need over 150 fully booked Boeing 747s to fit us all!

Who we are

Grade

The diversity of the Blue Line community is reflected in its composition, bringing together personnel from all roles and functions across the UN System. This is one of the key strengths of our community, and the Blue Line remains a valuable resource for all.

Age

The Blue Line community spans multiple generations of UN personnel, each bringing their unique perspectives, interests and learning needs. From emerging professionals under 35 building skills in project management, evaluation and partnerships, to mid-career experts aged 35 to 45 — the platform’s largest age group — honing communication and leadership capabilities, and professionals over 45 growing their expertise in leadership, data analysis, and organisational management. With learners across all career stages, including senior personnel aged 55+ refining their expertise in leadership and change management, the platform fosters continuous learning at every step of the UN journey.

Gender

With 51.5% female learners, 46% male learners, and 2.5% identifying as other or choosing not to disclose, the platform serves as a space where all personnel, regardless of gender, can access opportunities to grow, lead, and thrive in their careers.

Learners around the Globe

Countries

The Blue Line’s global footprint spans 195+ duty stations, connecting UN personnel from headquarters offices, regional hubs, and field missions alike.

By facilitating learning across diverse duty stations—from New York and Geneva to Amman and Medellín—the platform strengthens institutional coherence and enhances UN personnel’s capacity to navigate complex environments effectively.

Countries such as the United States, Switzerland, and Kenya, which host major UN offices and specialized agencies, see strong engagement from personnel in headquarters in managerial and administrative roles, reflecting the platform’s alignment with institutional learning priorities.

At the same time, field duty stations in countries like South Sudan, Jordan, and Colombia contribute significant numbers of learners, emphasizing the Blue Line’s critical role in equipping field personnel with operational skills, leadership development, and context-specific training.

United States
~3,800
Switzerland
~2,600
South Sudan
~1,600
Kenya
~1,400
Jordan
~900
Lebanon
~900
Italy
~850
Austria
~850
Colombia
~800
Thailand
~800

< 100
100-500
500-1,000
1,000-1,500
1,500-2,500
>2500

Regions

Across 57 duty stations in Africa, 12,000+ learners have embraced the Blue Line, and in Asia, 9,700+ colleagues across 48 duty stations have done the same.

These numbers tell a powerful story, not just of participation, but of a learning community driven by those on the frontline of the UN’s work.

300

11,000

With self-paced learning, I was concerned that it might feel lonely. It turned out to be a completely different experience—my network expanded. I enjoyed participating in the discussion forums, where we reflected on the content of each module. These exchanges enriched the learning resources and provided opportunities for experience sharing and knowledge sharing. In the UN, we are spread across different duty stations, locations, and contexts, and everyone brings a unique perspective to the same subject.

Parvina Sadieva Viana
Senior Programme Officer, FAO

The Learning Experience

Learning Resources by the UN, for the UN


Modules and Tools

Learning paths

With 230 unique modules and tools designed by the UN and tailored specifically for UN personnel, structured across 27 learning paths, the Blue Line offers something for every colleague. Whether it’s leadership development, data analytics, UN 2.0, business operations, peace and security, or well-being, this breadth of topics reflects the complexity of the UN’s work and the need for multidimensional professional development.

Whether personnel are looking to develop quick skills in a certain area or pursue structured certification programmes, learners can choose between free resources, developed through years of cross-agency collaboration, and premium content, a specialized collection of 80+ modules, tools, learning paths, and certification programmes available in multiple UN languages.


The Blue Line is continuously expanding, and since mid-2022, when the first Blue Line modules were translated, the team has successfully translated approximately 36% of both premium and free content in one of the 6 UN languages, making these resources available to a wider audience.

By spending just 20 minutes a day learning on the Blue Line, you can complete up to 40 modules a year, gaining expertise and earning certifications in multiple topics of your interest.



A Multi-Reward Learning Experience

The Blue Line’s multi-reward learning experience offers two types of learner achievements. Badges are automatically unlocked upon completing individual modules, while certificates are granted when learners finish curated learning paths or specialized courses. These records contribute to a measurable overview of progress and learners have the option to share these verified accomplishments on LinkedIn, offering a documented record of professional development.
Badges awarded
65,500+
Specialised course certificates awarded
25,500+
Learning path certificates awarded
5,600+
Extended eCertificates awarded
395

Corporate Subscriptions

The Blue Line is pleased to offer UN entities the annual corporate subscription option, enabling affiliated personnel to enjoy free access to premium learning offerings.

Partner Agencies

Through the corporate subscription model, 15 UN agencies have provided all their personnel with unrestricted access to the Blue Line’s resources. This collective investment not only expands access to specialized content but also supports the UN system’s broader transformation under the UN 2.0 vision, ensuring staff across agencies have the tools they need to drive innovation, enhance collaboration, and build the future-ready workforce the UN needs.

Corporate Learning Paths

By creating corporate learning plans that are fully customizable and can be adapted over time, UN entities can align their learning goals with evolving priorities and needs. Among the subscribed entities, eight organizations are advancing organizational excellence through strategic learning pathways.

Each programme is tailored to reflect the organization’s mandate and learning needs, but common themes emerging across the board include a focus on leadership development, emotional intelligence, and systems thinking. These learning paths are designed to equip staff with practical skills while supporting both organizational goals and the broader 2030 Agenda.

Far from stand-alone efforts, these initiatives form part of a UN-wide learning ecosystem that supports institutional resilience and fosters meaningful internal culture change.

As we look ahead, we remain dedicated to delivering timely and context-specific learning that empowers personnel in even the most complex and challenging environments, strengthening our shared mission and fostering a globally connected UN workforce.


Consistently In-Demand Topics

The following themes have emerged as consistently in-demand, reflecting the evolving priorities and development needs of UN personnel across roles and duty stations.

Leadership
Modules like Adaptive Leadership, Leading through Communication, and Transformational Leadership continue to be among the most sought-after.
UN System and Operations
Interest in the efficiency agenda and procurement training remains steady, supporting staff in navigating UN reforms and essential operational processes.
Diversity and Inclusion
Modules like Leveraging Diversity in the Workplace and Overcoming Unconscious Bias are drawing consistent attention.
Self and People Management
Learners are engaging with modules such as Handling Difficult Conversations, Motivating Yourself and Others, and Resolving Conflicts.

Learner Feedback

After each module, learners are invited to complete a short feedback form. This feedback is carefully reviewed and used to drive the continuous development of the Blue Line learning platform, creating a more effective and engaging educational journey for everyone. As a result of this ongoing collaboration, the Blue Line community has consistently given high ratings across key learning metrics in all modules:

Ratings


The Blue Line community has given high ratings across key learning metrics in all modules:



Recommendation


Across diverse roles and functions, learners consistently report high levels of satisfaction with the content, structure, and applicability of these learning paths. With 96% indicating they would recommend the modules and learning paths to others, the data points to strong engagement and perceived value.

Strengths and Opportunities

We also ask learners what they appreciated, what worked well, and what could be improved. This kind of input is key to understanding what resonates and where there’s room to grow. Based on this feedback, we regularly refine our content and approach— strengthening effective elements and addressing areas that need improvement.

Opportunities for Enhancement

We analyzed your feedback and here’s what you’d like to see improved:

  • Incorporate more real-world examples and increase the availability of practical exercises.
  • Foster greater peer interaction and refine the sharing activities.
  • Continue broadening the content offerings and in different languages.
  • Optimize the learning path structure with clearer module sequencing.

What Our Community Appreciates

Thank you also for sharing what you value most about The Blue Line – we use this to shape future modules:

  • Management Simulators are valued for their practical, hands-on application.
  • A mix of learning materials, such as videos, interactive content, quizzes, and readings sustains high engagement levels.
  • The flexibility to create one’s own path and the self-paced modular structure allow to address individual needs.
  • The diversity and breadth of content, while maintaining high relevance to key roles within the UN system.


Acknowledgements

With sincere thanks to all our partners for their continued collaboration and support in shaping the Blue Line learning experience. Your contributions, through shared insights, feedback, and joint development of learning components, have played an important role in ensuring that our programmes remain relevant, impactful, and aligned with the evolving needs of the UN system. Together, we are building a stronger, more connected community of UNited learners across the system.

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2025 - United Nations System Staff College