Director General/Executive Director
21 October 2016
Madam President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My warm congratulations to all of you on the successful conclusion of the conference.
I would like to give particular thanks to you madam President for having ably guided the conference's work, and for achieving so much in such a short period.
My thanks to the vice-presidents, and other bureau members, as well as the Chair of the Committee of the Whole who have all worked so tirelessly on behalf of this session.
Allow me to congratulate colleagues from across the UN, as well as inter-governmental organizations and civil society who play a critical role in these biennial discussions.
Thanks also to my dedicated colleagues in UNODC's Division for Treaty Affairs working under the leadership of its Director John Brandolino, as well as Loide Lungameni, the Chief of our Organized Crime Branch, as well as other UNODC/UNOV staff who have been working with diligence to support you.
In my opening speech, I said that crime's negative impact is an indisputable fact.
We know this through UNODC's research, studies and analysis on such subjects as human trafficking, migrant smuggling, cybercrime, wildlife crime, illicit money flows, terrorism, and many other varieties of TOC.
When combined, this detailed information creates a powerful narrative of the destructive nature of crime and how it affects us all.
It shows that young or old, poor or rich; living in the East or West, North or South, crime hurts everyone, everywhere.
But this knowledge is only one element of the overall anti-crime equation. Our work goes beyond simply setting out the salient facts.
We are committed to bringing countries together to agree on the solutions; but also to designing the comprehensive projects and programs for delivering effective and efficient responses as a solid basis for the Palermo Convention and its protocols.
The Convention remains one of the most powerful tools we have to combat the criminals, their networks, and their vast profits.
The decisions adopted by you this week are all healthy indicators of the progress being made in the implementation of the Convention, and the determination of the international community to build cooperation and to coordinate activities.
But there is much more to be done. Real success against transnational organized crime will only come through the clear and unambiguous implementation of the Convention and its protocols.
Your hard work this week to create a vision for a new review mechanism represents a welcome forward movement.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our work in this area has received a considerable boost in recent years.
By recognizing that crime can hinder and obstruct sustainable development, the SDG's, and the Doha Declaration before it, have made an evolutionary leap in the way crime is perceived.
This deepening of the collective understanding about crime was advanced recently with the adoption of the groundbreaking New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.
The landscape in which UNODC operates has never been clearer, or the goals more visible within the overall activities of the wider United Nations.
But this places a heavy responsibility on UNODC to deliver the right assistance, and to form the strongest possible partnerships to boost this work on the ground where the need is greatest.
The allocation of badly needed resources is also required and I invite countries to remember this when prioritizing future needs.
Once again, many thanks for all your efforts this week and I wish you a safe journey home to your loved ones.
Thank you.