Preparing today's youth to become tomorrow's leaders rests in large part on giving them solid educational pillars, including not only the necessary range of formal academics but also strong ethical foundations and essential life skills.
To keep the dialogue open with this most important of resources, its young people, UNODC's Regional Office for Eastern Africa, with support from the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, recently organized the National Youth Workshop on Promoting Good Governance and Integrity, bringing together some 500 Kenyan youth, representing all segments of society, including vulnerable communities from across the country.
Sextortion, as defined by the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), is the abuse of power to obtain a sexual benefit or advantage. As such, it is a form of corruption in which sex, rather than money, is the currency of the bribe. It is not limited to certain countries or sectors and can be found wherever those entrusted with power lack integrity and try to sexually exploit those who are vulnerable and dependent on their power.
The IAWJ has succinctly explained the principle underlying sextortion as follows: what distinguishes sextortion from other types of sexually abusive conduct is that it has both a sexual component and a corruption component. The sexual component of sextortion arises from a request - whether implicit or explicit - to engage in any kind of unwanted sexual activity, ranging from sexual intercourse to exposing private body parts.
For decades, UNODC has provided technical assistance and advisory services to Member States on crime prevention and criminal justice in numerous sectors. One key area has been its work on prisoner rehabilitation programmes, encouraging the fair and humane treatment of prisoners, and helping prepare them to reintegrate society after having served their prison sentences.
With the United Nations General Assembly's adoption in 2015 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, of which UNDOC is the guardian, penal reform programmes have been increasingly set up to strengthen prison management and improve prison conditions, and to facilitate the social integration of prisoners upon release.
While the pace of developments in technology continues to accelerate to the great pleasure of many, it does present challenges to certain categories of professional disciplines whose nature does not lend itself well to much flexibility; with the preservation of judicial integrity at the helm of their principles, many judges may have difficulty embracing rapid innovation.
Judges must comply with legal and ethical ramifications which other professions may not face when using technology. This is particularly the case when considering social media platforms, which have become ubiquitous in the last few years; inserting themselves into people's mundane activities, they allow instant communication with family, friends and total strangers, the sharing of holiday photos and funny memes, and the ability of commenting on news stories.
For decades, UNODC has been a global leader in the fight against crime and illicit drugs, assisting Member States to prevent and control these scourges. With the Doha Declaration Global Programme, funded by the State of Qatar, UNODC has added a crucial element to this struggle which unites all nations: the education of younger generations to ensure a better tomorrow.
Speaking in New York at a special event marking the importance of education in this respect, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov recalled the central nature of this topic at the 13th UN Crime Congress at which the Doha Declaration was adopted: "Member States agreed that education for all children and youth is fundamental to the prevention of crime and corruption, and to the promotion of a culture of lawfulness that supports the rule of law and human rights."
