For information only - not an official document

UNIS/CP/944
21 October 2016

As crime conference ends, UNODC receives boost to vital work of protecting sustainable development

The closing of the Eighth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) underlined how transnational organized crime hurts everyone, everywhere

VIENNA, 21 October (UN Information Service) - The Eighth Session of the Conference of Parties to the Palermo Convention today reinforced a growing acknowledgement that transnational organized crime undermines sustainable development and causes havoc in vulnerable and fragile societies.

In his remarks, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, stated that work against transnational organized crime had received a considerable boost in recent years.

Mr. Fedotov said: "By recognizing that crime can hinder and obstruct sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Goal's, and the Doha Declaration before it, have made an evolutionary leap in the way crime is perceived."

Other examples of this understanding included the adoption of the ground-breaking New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which recognizes their vulnerability to smuggling and trafficking. The recent 10-year review of the UN Counter-terrorism Strategy also signalled a need for further work on how terrorists benefit from organized crime.

Describing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) as one of the most powerful tools to combat the criminals, Mr. Fedotov said this week's biennial COP had played a pivotal role in unlocking the Convention's potential for bringing governments together and sharpening responses to transnational crime.    

He also said that the landscape where UNODC operates has never been clearer, but acknowledged that this placed a heavy responsibility on UNODC to deliver the right assistance, and to form the strongest possible partnerships for work on the ground.  

This year, a number of resolutions were passed to enhance the work of the Convention on such matters as enhancing the work of central authorities in criminal matters, strengthening the implementation of the firearms protocol, and promoting implementation of the Convention through review.  

Held every two years, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime attracts some 800 participants drawn from Member States, ministries and civil society.

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For further information please contact:

David Dadge
Spokesperson, UNODC
Telephone: (+43 1) 26060-5629
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5629
Email: david.dadge[at]unvienna.org