The Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Fifteenth UN Crime Congress), which is hosted by the Government of the United Arab Emirates, will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 26 September to 1 October 2026, with pre-session consultations scheduled for 25 September 2026. The United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UN Crime Congress) is the world's largest and most diverse gathering of Governments, civil society, academia and experts in crime prevention and criminal justice. The UN Crime Congresses have been held every five years since 1955 in different parts of the world, dealing with a vast array of topics. They have made a considerable impact in the field of international crime prevention and criminal justice and influenced national policies and professional practices. As a global forum, the UN Crime Congresses enable the exchange of information and best practices among States and professionals working in this field. Their overall goal is to promote more effective crime prevention policies and criminal justice measures all over the world.
The UN Crime Congress has a formal part and an extensive informal part. The formal part takes place in the Plenary and in two Committees which take place in parallel with the Plenary. The formal part consists of the opening and the closing sessions, the “high-level segment” in Plenary immediately after the opening, the discussion on the four agenda items, and the discussion in the four workshops in the Committees. The informal part consists of ancillary meetings and exhibitions. The Congress will be held in person in the ADNEC Center Abu Dhabi, with the possibility to follow online on UN WebTV.
The theme of the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress is “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: Protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, in line with the United Nations General Assembly resolution 78/223.
The agenda items and the topics for the workshops of the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress were determined by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 78/223. There are four substantive items on the agenda, each of which is linked to a workshop organized within the framework of the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress. The agenda items and topics of the workshops are as follows.
Agenda item 3: Advancing innovative and evidence-based crime prevention strategies towards social, economic and environmental development.
Workshop 1: Building resilient societies, with a focus on protecting women, children and youth: fostering engagement, education and the culture of lawfulness.
Agenda item 4: Promoting people-centred, inclusive and responsive criminal justice systems in a world of continuous change.
Workshop 2: Ensuring equal access to justice for all: towards safe and secure societies while respecting the rule of law.
Agenda item 5:Addressing and countering crime – including organized crime and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations – in new, emerging and evolving forms.
Workshop 3: Getting ahead: strengthening data collection and analysis to better protect people and planet in times of new, emerging and evolving forms of crime.
Agenda item 6: Working better together to elevate cooperation and partnerships, including technical and material assistance and training, at the national, regional and international levels, in crime prevention and criminal justice.
Workshop 4: Turning the digital age into an opportunity: promoting the responsible use of technologies in crime prevention and criminal justice.
A high-level segment will be held at the beginning of the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress, where Heads of State or Government, Ministers and other high-level government representatives will address the overall theme of the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress. Subjects relating to crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law will also be discussed at numerous side meetings organized by non-governmental organizations.
• The Fifteenth UN Crime Congress is expected to adopt a single declaration to be submitted for consideration to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which acts not only as the preparatory body for the UN Crime Congress but also as the main follow up body to the UN Crime Congress and is the principal policymaking body of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.
• The Fifteenth UN Crime Congress will provide a platform for increased cooperation between governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations on the whole spectrum of crime prevention and criminal justice issues, thus promoting more effective international cooperation in this field.
In preparation for the Fifteenth UN Crime Congress, a series of regional preparatory meetings was held in 2025 to provide a regional perspective. The meetings were held in:
• Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok / Thailand (21-23 January 2025)
• Latin America and the Caribbean, San José / Costa Rica (4-6 February 2025)
• Europe, Vienna / Austria (25-27 March 2025)
• Africa, Addis Ababa / Ethiopia (8-10 April 2025)
• Western Asia, Marrakech / Morocco (23-25 April 2025)
The outcomes of the regional preparatory meetings fed into the zero draft for the outcome declaration.
Interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations will be provided for formal proceedings (plenary sessions). Ancillary events are generally held in English only.
Congress documents are published on the Congress website.
Member States can only deliver one statement each during the high-level segment.
The UN Crime Congresses are unique in their mix of participants. They bring together the largest and most diverse gathering of policymakers, practitioners, representatives of UN agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations as well as individual experts in crime prevention, law enforcement, prosecution, the courts, corrections and related fields. In doing so, they provide an opportunity to invigorate policy discussions by permitting practitioners, civil society representatives and individual participants to raise issues of concern, bringing these to the attention of policymakers.
Persons with an interest in crime prevention and the treatment of offenders have the opportunity to apply to the Secretariat for an invitation to participate in the Fifteenth Congress as individual experts. The deadline for expressions of interest by individual experts to participate as observers in the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was on 5 December 2025. All those who expressed an interest to participate by 5 December 2025 and whose applications have been have been contacted and will receive a confirmation email with the invitation to register in INDICO.
There is no new process after the postponement of the meeting.
For all interested who are not registered to participate in the meeting, it will be possible to follow the webcast of official segments of the Congress (plenary and committees). The link will be available on the Congress website.
In-person participants from abroad will be subject to regulations on the entry to the United Arab Emirates, as specified by the host country. In order to ensure timely processing of visa applications, participants are encouraged to apply for a visa in parallel with the registration for the Congress as soon as possible. More information on visa procedures will be made available by the host country closer to the meeting.
In order to participate in the Congress, all participants must register within the registration period. The Congress webpage contains details on the registration modalities for each of the category of participants. Participants need to register again for the new postponed meeting dates.
Once the registration form has been submitted, an acknowledgement email is sent to the participant. As long as the registration form has not been approved by the Congress Secretariat, participants can modify their registration form (for example, to change the photo or to upload a different / additional document). To access and modify the registration form, participants can click on the link in the acknowledgement email sent by the Congress Secretariat. If the registration form has to be modified after it has been approved, the participant should contact the Congress Secretariat.
Ancillary meetings are side events held at the margins of the UN Crime Congress to complement the main agenda. These meetings allow stakeholders to discuss and share innovations, research, and best practices on crime prevention, criminal justice, and related topics.
Ancillary meetings can be organized by Member States, UNODC and other UN entities, the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network Institutes, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); and NGOs not in consultative status with ECOSOC approved for participation.
One organizer can organize multiple events.
The programme of ancillary meetings and all related arrangements remain unchanged. The Secretariat does not plan to re-open the application process or collect new proposals.
Topics must be thematically relevant to the 15th UN Crime Congress's theme: "Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: Protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age." Member States cannot be made the focus of a meeting without their engagement.
Please liaise directly with the organizer. The organizer is expected to include co-organizers in the proposal at the time of submission of the online form.
The programme of ancillary meetings is available on the Crime Congress website under Events. Events have been rescheduled after the postponement of the meeting.
In-person: Meeting rooms will be equipped with standard audiovisual (AV) equipment, including microphones and projectors. Technical staff will assist the organizers with the event.
Hybrid: Organizers are responsible for the technical organization of their event, including the online conferencing platform. Organizers should provide a link to their event to the Secretariat.
Online: Organizers are responsible for all technical aspects.
UN interpretation is not available for ancillary meetings. Private interpretation must be arranged directly with the conference center ADNEC.
The participants of an ancillary meeting must register in INDICO under the category “Other / Ancillary Meeting”.
The organizer of the event must provide:
This is not necessary if the participants are already part of a delegation to avoid the duplication of registration.
For any questions, please contact the Secretariat to the Governing Bodies at unodc-sgb.events@un.org. Due to the large number of ancillary meetings, we kindly ask only the focal point to contact us.
The exhibition provides opportunities for Member States, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations and civil society organizations to showcase their contributions in thematic areas related to crime prevention and criminal justice. The exhibitions aim to provide a platform to highlight national efforts and initiatives, best practices and success stories linked to the overall theme and agenda items of the 15th UN Crime Congress.
Exhibitions can be organized by:
Topics of exhibitions must be thematically relevant to the theme of the 15th UN Crime Congress: “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: Protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”.
Exhibitions will be displayed throughout the duration of the Congress.
Information regarding the size of the standard booths will be made available to organizers.
The exhibition application form must be accompanied with a copy of the original design (sketches), and content, or photos. Please first upload your documents to WeTransfer (https://wetransfer.com/), with unodc-sgb.events@un.org as a recipient. Kindly copy/paste the download link into the application form.
Each exhibitor is expected to comply with general UN rules and practices. All exhibitions must be cleared by the UN Crime Congress Secretariat prior to their installation. Organizers should send their promotional materials to the UN Crime Congress Secretariat via unodc-sgb.events@un.org for clearance.
The programme of exhibitions is available on the Crime Congress website under Events.
All exhibitions should be paperless to the extent possible. Roll-up banners can be displayed. Organizers are requested to explore paperless ways of distributing material, for example through a QR code made available at the exhibition booth.
For further inquiries regarding the application for the Crime Congress exhibitions, please contact the UN Crime Congress Secretariat via unodc-sgb.events@un.org.
