For information only – not an official document

UNIS/MA/304
12 May 2022

MEDIA ADVISORY

Journalists invited to cover the 31st session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

VIENNA, 10 May (UN Information Service) – Journalists are invited to cover the 31^st session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) which is held in a hybrid format with in-person participation between 16 and 20 May in Vienna, Austria.

The opening on the first day of the 31^st session will include remarks by:

• Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);
• Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC);
• Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women;
• Takeshi Hikihara, Chair of the 31st session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

The topic of the thematic discussion this year is “Strengthening the use of digital evidence in criminal justice and countering cybercrime, including the abuse and exploitation of minors in illegal activities with the use of the Internet.” A workshop of the institutes comprising the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Network (PNI) will be organized on the first day on a related topic, namely “Improving criminal justice responses to internet-related crimes against children.”

Resolutions under consideration by the Commission address the following topics:

• Strengthening the international legal framework for international cooperation to combat and prevent illicit trafficking in specimens of wild fauna and flora;
• Follow-up to the Fourteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and Preparations for the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice;
• Reducing reoffending through rehabilitation and reintegration;
• Promoting effective national legal frameworks to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse by engaging in and fostering multi-stakeholder responses, including public-private partnerships.

The list of draft resolutions can be found here.

Over 80 side events will take place online during the 31^st session of the CCPCJ on topics ranging from Implementing the Kyoto Declaration; Wildlife Crime; Ensuring Access to Justice for Women; Preventing and Countering Terrorism; Promoting the Role and Voice of Women in Countering Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling; Addressing and Responding to Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System; Measuring the Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls; and more.

The 31^st Session will bring together participants from Member States, UN entities, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, and the practitioner community in Vienna and online.

Media accreditation

Journalists are invited to follow the opening online on 16 May 2022 at 10:00 am (Vienna time).

To follow the opening as well as all open segments, go to: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CCPCJ/session/31_Session_2022/webcasting.html. 

Member States will make transcriptions and statements available to journalists at their own discretion.

Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #CCPCJ31 and follow @UNODC, @GhadaFathiWaly, @CCPCJ and @UN_Vienna for updates.

Further information can be found here.

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For further information please contact:

Sonya Yee 
Speechwriter and Spokesperson, UNODC 
Phone: (+43 1) 26060-4990 
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990 
Email: sonya.yee[at]un.org

or

Anne Thomas 
Public Information Officer, UNIS Vienna 
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-5588 
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5588 
Email: anne.thomas[at]un.org