Director General/Executive Director
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour to report to the Third Committee on the work of UNODC to support Member States in addressing the challenges of transnational organized crime, illicit drugs, corruption and terrorism.
I regret that I could not be at this meeting in person, and I thank you for allowing me to address you by VTC.
I also thank the Member States that have expressed their support for UNODC in their statements at this meeting.
We always try to live up to your expectations.
Mr. Chairman,
It is a critical time for global efforts to prevent crime and promote justice and the rule of law.
We have agreement on a transformative development agenda that integrates targets including strengthening prevention and treatment of substance abuse; eliminating violence against women and children; ending modern slavery and human trafficking; ending poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna; reducing all forms of violence and related death rates; promoting the rule of law and ensuring equal access to justice; reducing illicit financial and arms flows, strengthening the recovery and return of stolen assets and combatting all forms of organized crime; reducing corruption and bribery; and building capacity to prevent violence and combat terrorism and crime.
UNODC is committed to doing our utmost to help Member States achieve these targets.
This includes providing technical assistance on the ground and supporting the implementation of the international conventions on drugs, transnational organized crime and corruption, as well as the universal instruments against terrorism and UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.
Our work also includes advancing the development of clear indicators, based on UNODC's long-standing research expertise in the areas of criminal justice, drugs and crime, to enable States to monitor global progress towards the SDGs and to foster change on the ground.
As recognized in Goal 17, partnerships are essential to realizing sustainable development outcomes. UNODC is coordinating closely with UN and other partners, including Interpol, to ensure that we are as effective and efficient as possible.
Strengthening public-private partnerships in the fight against corruption is one of the main themes of the sixth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, which will be taking place in St. Petersburg next month.
The conference will assess the progress achieved by the Convention's Review Mechanism as its first cycle comes to a close, and address modalities of the second cycle, as well as priorities including asset recovery, strengthening international cooperation and prevention.
Mr. Chairman,
The agreement on Agenda 2030 comes as Member States are preparing for the UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem in April.
The challenges posed by illicit drugs have a profound impact on a number of sustainable development targets.
The fact that the UNGASS is taking place just a few months after the adoption of a bold new development agenda provides an opportunity to examine these links and seek common solutions.
As the UN entity with a mandate to assist countries in addressing the challenges of illicit drugs, UNODC continues to support UNGASS preparations, which are being led by Member States via the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
The preparatory process has benefitted from the contributions of a diverse range of stakeholders, including other UN agencies, international and regional organizations, academia and civil society.
We held a briefing in New York just last week with the President of the General Assembly and the Chair of the UNGASS Board to provide detailed information on the status of preparations.
A further briefing with the participation of relevant UN agencies will be held for Member States on 20 November, and you are all welcome to attend.
UNODC, working closely with our UN partners, also continues to provide support on the ground to implement balanced approaches to the world drug problem, including through measures to promote access to controlled medicines to relieve pain and suffering; provide alternative livelihoods; expand prevention and treatment services for drug use disorders and HIV; and encourage the use of alternatives to imprisonment.
At the same time, through our integrated country, regional and global programmes, we are supporting robust cross-border criminal justice responses to go after the traffickers and organized criminal groups, and to address challenges related to the insecurity and violence associated with drug trafficking.
These efforts are supported by high quality research and analysis, including flagship publications such as the World Drug Report.
The 2015 Afghanistan opium survey will also be released shortly.
We will be presenting it on 14 October, simultaneously in New York, Kabul and Vienna.
Next year, we expect to finalize and release research findings on another growing threat to development and security - namely, wildlife and forest crime.
Going after the money is a key means of tackling all forms of organized crime, as well as the financing of terrorism, and UNODC continues to work with Member States, as well as International Financial Institutions and other multilateral bodies, to combat illicit financial flows and money laundering.
We are also devising more sophisticated frameworks for regional and inter-regional cooperation to counter organized crime through initiatives such as "Networking the networks".
In recent years, we have seen strengthened links between organized crime networks and terrorist groups, as well as terrorist organizations raising funds through criminal activities such as the illicit trafficking of drugs, arms, cultural property and natural resources.
UNODC's comprehensive support to address these challenges includes a major initiative aimed at strengthening the capacity of countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans to prevent and suppress terrorism, particularly the threats posed by foreign terrorist fighters.
We have also facilitated the development of Guidelines for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice with Respect to Trafficking in Cultural Property and Other Related Offences, which was adopted by the GA last December.
Another notable achievement in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice are the revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or Nelson Mandela Rules, which UNODC and the Government of South Africa presented in New York this week.
The Rules are helping to promote and safeguard the humane treatment of prisoners as well as enhance the work and value of prison staff, and represent a significant step in advancing human rights.
Mr. Chairman,
The acute situation facing migrants and refugees in many parts of the world is a key challenge facing the international community.
As part of UN system efforts to address the situation in a comprehensive manner, UNODC is supporting governments to take action, including through implementation of the protocols against migrant smuggling and human trafficking under the UNTOC.
UNODC has developed new strategies to support Member States to address migrant smuggling, and we recently published a report outlining criminal justice measures to combat violence against migrants.
As part of our anti-trafficking efforts, UNODC contributes to providing legal and financial aid to victims through the UN Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, which is now in its second grant cycle.
The Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking continues to help raise awareness of the plight of victims and inspire action to stop human trafficking.
Next month, I will be in Nicaragua to launch the Blue Heart Campaign in the country.
Mr. Chairman,
As this brief report on our work demonstrates, UNODC and its network of field offices are supporting Member States to address critical challenges in a broad range of areas, across the globe.
At the same time, our financial situation remains vulnerable, and UNODC needs more sustainable funding so that we can continue ensuring the delivery of technical cooperation, most of all in the field, to the high standards you have come to expect from us.
The revised consolidated budget of UNODC for the 2014-2015 biennium totals $760.1 million, of which 11.7 per cent is from regular budget funds.
As you may see, UNODC, with its broad mandate dealing with the global challenges of transnational organized crime, illicit drugs, trafficking corruption, and prevention of terrorism, gets $44 million from the UN regular budget, which represents just 0.8 per cent of the overall regular budget of the UN.
Pledges for voluntary contributions reached $280.9 million in 2014, and a similarly high level is anticipated for 2015.
I consider this as a clear sign of trust and commitment on the part of our donors.
However, in the absence of adequate regular budget funding, general-purpose contributions needed for our core functions declined to $6.8 million in 2014, and a further decline is projected for this year.
In response to these trends, we have reviewed our funding structure to deliver more with less, and to ensure strategic and operational coherence across our services.
Nevertheless, UNODC urgently needs a solid stream of stable and predictable resources, including for core activities.
I hope we can count on your support to help ensure that we can continue to deliver on the mandates entrusted to us by Member States.
Thank you.