Behind bars

While working on a trilogy of books documenting the global drugs trade-De Narcoticis-UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Alessandro Scotti captured powerful images of some of the children affected by drug-related crimes. Instead of leaving them behind, incarcerated parents are sometimes given the opportunity to raise their children in prison. Conditions are not ideal but often these children have nowhere else to go.

The women's prison El Buen Pastor (The Good Shepherd) in Bogotá, Colombia, built a maternity ward and a special nursery for children up to three years old (in the picture). Most inmates are single mothers serving sentences for drug trafficking.

Rural prisons in eastern Shan State, Myanmar, allow children to stay with their parents and participate in their daily routine. A young boy plays in the prison yard before inmates are called to their cells.