UNODC Bolivia and the State Attorney General's Office sign a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the fight against organized crime and other offenses 

 La Paz, November 12th, 2020 (United Nations) .- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bolivia and the Public Ministry of Bolivia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the purpose of establishing a joint framework to achieve common objectives in the field of promoting the rule of law and guaranteeing equal access to justice.

 The UNODC representative in Bolivia, Thierry Rostan, assured that this joint work is essential to generate a culture of effective justice and to optimize coordination between Prosecutors and Police Investigators, especially in drug trafficking crimes and violence against women that occurred even during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For his part, the State Attorney General, Juan Lanchipa Ponce, stressed that this agreement will allow the improvement of access to justice and care for the population. Also, he remarked the importance of the technical support provided by UNODC, hoping for the interinstitutional relationship may be extended in time to continue with technical support to the Public Ministry in Bolivia. 

Both authorities agreed on the necessity to carry out joint technical work to strengthen the Bolivian criminal justice system, in order to combat national and transnational organized crime, human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, firearms trafficking, corruption, terrorism, drug and chemical trafficking, crimes against wildlife and forests, as well as care for victims based on gender and crime in general.

Among the preliminary topics agreed within the framework of their respective mandates and competencies, the development and strengthen the following areas stands out:

• Training.

• Institutional development and equipment.

•Technical assistance.

• Statistics, trends and management of criminal policy.

• Regional and international cooperation.

• Promotion of the development of transnational investigations.

• Promotion of international standards, good practices and lessons learned.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) carries out permanent work of support and technical assistance to the Bolivian government, civil society organizations and academic institutions, among others, to strengthen responses against criminal organizations, within their national borders and between regions, both in the areas of prevention and in the fight against drugs and organized crime.