Discussions around branding, marketing and points of sale are not often associated with the United Nations family, but they were a large part of the latest expert group meeting convened in Vienna in late-January to explore UNODC's options for supporting a global scheme of prison products, made by prisoners in the context of rehabilitation programmes.
An essential component of the Doha Declaration Global Programme, UNODC's work on prisoner rehabilitation has been consolidating the ways in which prison-based rehabilitation schemes can be developed and harmonized at an international level. The consideration of a "global prison brand," or of a similar scheme to promote existing brands of prison products at national level, is the next step in the programme, and was the focal point of the meeting.
Submissions are now open for the academic conference, 'Linking Organized Crime and Cybercrime 2018' to be held from 7-8 June in Chuncheon, South Korea. Hosted by the Hallym University and sponsored by UNODC, the conference aims to produce novel insights into the linkages between organized and cybercrime, particularly in light of technology as an enabler.
The conference will explore insights and produce material for tertiary level teaching as part of the Education for Justice (E4J) initiative's work in develop modules and materials that support academics in their activities related to UNODC mandate areas.
Submissions are due by 30 March 2018.
The concept of teaching values and skills is at the heart of UNODC's work in building a culture of lawfulness from an early age. By working with young minds, the Education for Justice (E4J) initiative is busy promoting this ideal at the primary level, reaching out to children between the ages of six and 12 through a series of fun, yet informative, educational tools.
At the core of the success of this work is the understanding that the development of meaningful tools will depend on the invaluable opinions of both children and teachers alike. With this in mind, December saw two important events in Mexico City, which allowed children, educators and relevant stakeholders to give their thoughts on the design of two key educational items currently being developed under E4J.
Indonesia's 450 prison facilities currently house over 250,000 prisoners - the mere number indicating the challenge with which the prison administration is faced in ensuring their safe, secure and humane custody. In running these, the country's Directorate-General of Corrections (DGC) is presented with additional issues, such as severe overcrowding, staff shortages, and - an aspect which is often less well known among the general public - the task of preparing prisoners for their eventual social reintegration into society. This undertaking, however, is crucial, as it is rooted in the understanding that imprisonment alone is incapable of addressing the social reintegration needs of offenders, and that without educational and vocational training programmes, many prisoners fall into the cycle of re-offending upon release.
As part of UNODC's work in promoting sport as a valuable tool for youth crime prevention, sports and education experts from ten different countries met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in late-November. With participants from across the globe attending, the study visit served as an ideal opportunity to bring together a diverse group in order to share best practices and familiarize them with the methodology of UNODC's life skills sports-based training programme - Line Up Live Up.
The week featured a series of interactive presentations, roundtable discussions and site visits to observe innovative ways to engage at-risk youth by using sport as a vehicle for both diversion and social-change.
