United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

'Listen First' is an initiative to increase support for prevention of drug use that is based on science and is thus an effective investment in the well-being of children and youth, their families and their communities. Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe. The website of the campaign is www.unodc.org/listenfirst. The campaign includes information, developed by experts, for parents, and for policy makers.

Each year, transnational organized crime generates an estimated $870 billion, threatening peace and human security, leading to human rights violations and undermining economic, social, cultural and political development of societies around the world. Combating a global phenomenon such as transnational organized crime requires partnerships at all levels. Governments, businesses, civil society, international organizations and people in all corners of the world have a part to play...  [Read More]

UNODC, as guardian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocols thereto, assists States in their efforts to implement the  Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Trafficking in Persons Protocol). The Blue Heart Campaign raises awareness of the problem and inspires those with decision-making power to effect change. Learn more today and help us work to stop human trafficking in the future...  [Read More].

Every year on 26 June, the world commemorates the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, an occasion to drive home the message that drug use can take a heavy toll on health and well-being. UNODC has long been at the forefront of awareness campaigns about the dangers posed by traditional drugs such as cannabis, heroin, cocaine and amphetamine-type substances.

Today, however, there is an alarming new drug problem. Demand has soared for substances not under international control, which are posing significant public health challenges. Therefore, the 2013 UNODC global awareness campaign  "Make health your 'new high' in life, not drugs  " aims to inform the public, particularly young people, about the harmful effects of new psychoactive substances (NPS). Sold openly, including online, these untested concoctions can be far more dangerous than traditional drugs... [Read More]

A new global campaign to commemorate International Anti-corruption Day, 9 December, kicked off on 26 November 2013 in Panama under the theme  Zero Corruption - 100% Development.  The 2013 advocacy campaign was announced by UNODC and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), during a special event at the V Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

This year, the agencies jointly organized a competition for young people to design an awareness campaign on the corrosive effects of corruption on development, recognizing the pivotal role of today's youth in driving an agenda for a future built on solid and honest foundations... [Read More]

With the objective of providing books to persons deprived of liberty and equipping prison's libraries throughout the Republic of Panama, the Directorate General of the Penitentiary System and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, launched a public campaign called "Books for Prisons."

To date, more than 7000 books have been collected, and libraries are functioning in the country's main prisons. Panamanian prisons are also equipped by UNODC, through the project "Supporting Prison Reform in Panama".

The campaign is a result of a partnership between the Government of Panama, UNODC, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the European Union, and its objective is to sensitize vulnerable populations, particularly youth, on the consequences of engaging in criminal activities and the negative impact that imprisonment has on their lives, families and communities. Simultaneously, the campaign is a reminder that the Prison System must ensure the human rights of people living in detention... [Read More]