Director General/Executive Director
Madame President of the General Assembly,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Thank you for bringing the attention of the General Assembly to this priority area of international cooperation.
Regional organizations represent a key partner for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in advancing crime prevention and criminal justice responses around the world.
UNODC works closely with, and in support of, regional partners including the African Union, ECOWAS, SADC, LAS, OAS, CARICOM, ASEAN, SCO, OSCE, and many more in all areas of our mandates, from promoting health, and tackling human trafficking and migrant smuggling, to countering the trafficking of drugs, illicit firearms and wildlife, preventing violence, supporting prison reform and combating corruption and terrorism.
We do this in close cooperation, and with support from, important partners like the European Union, INTERPOL and EUROPOL, parliamentary organizations including IPU and PAM, and many others.
Through our integrated country, regional and global programmes, UNODC seeks to make the most of synergies and complementarity of efforts.
We are networking regional and sub-regional law enforcement coordination platforms to promote exchange of criminal intelligence and coordinating multilateral operations targeting all forms of transnational organized crime.
This high-level meeting of the General Assembly is a very welcome opportunity for UNODC to hear from our regional partners about the specific challenges they face, and how we can further improve cooperation to promote crime prevention and criminal justice responses to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
It is especially timely as we build on the Doha Declaration and work towards the 14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Kyoto next April.
UNODC has been engaged with all regions through a series of preparatory meetings on "advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda".
These comprehensive discussions will inform the outcomes of the Crime Congress, and we count on your continued engagement as we move further along the road to Kyoto.
Madame President, thank you once again for this important discussion. As always, you can count on the support of UNODC.
Thank you.