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UNODC Collaborates in the Strengthening of Security in the Northern Triangle

Central America's Northern Triangle suffers the effects of different forms of crime, which affect its security and economic contexts, thus posing a common threat to this region.

For many years, responses to organized crime were developed and implemented at the national level. However, addressing transnational challenges requires transnational efforts, and this is exactly the new approach chosen by Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran authorities. Regional cooperation, joint law enforcement operations and just-in-time exchange of information are key angles of this new approach, which also relies heavily on the standardization of existing national legislation and procedures to achieve success.

In this context, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN), the Salvadoran National Assembly and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, joined efforts to celebrate the "I Interparliamentary Forum on Security in the Northern Triangle". The objective of this event, which took place on 14-15 July 2017 and gathered high-level representatives from the Ministries of Security, the Offices of the Attorney-Generals and the National Assemblies of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, was to exchange experiences and best practices on the fight against organized crime, as well as to define next steps for the establishment of enhanced operational cooperation among the three States in this matter.

The opening ceremony of the event was chaired by Mr. Donato Vaquerano, Vice President of El Salvador National Assembly; Mr. Oliverio García, President of the Interparliamentary Commission of Security and Justice FOPREL; José Almendaríz, President of the Commission on Public Security and Narcotics of El Salvador Legislative Assembly; Ms. Jean Manes, U.S. Ambassador in El Salvador; and Mr. Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN).

A second Inter-parliamentary Forum will take place in San Salvador in April 2018, with the objective of following-up on the agreements reached during its first edition.