18 November 2009 - In many countries, crime prevention has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of the police. However, as a result of increasing innovation, research and experience throughout the world, it is now recognized that crime has multiple dimensions. Many other sectors of society have an impact on crime levels and therefore have a responsibility to act to help prevent crime.
To support crime prevention efforts of UN agencies, donor organizations, member states and other entities, UNODC, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime recently launched an electronic crime prevention assessment tool.
The tool is designed to assess crime prevention needs, identify areas for technical assistance, describe interventions that incorporate United Nations standards and norms on crime prevention, and provide further training on these issues. Its development is a step towards more integrated approaches to crime prevention.
The tool is the newest component of the UNODC Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit, whose overall purpose is to aid in assessing countries' needs in the areas of criminal justice and crime prevention so that appropriate and effective technical assistance can be provided.
The document should be used in conjunction with the main toolkit, which addresses policing, access to justice, custodial and non-custodial measures and cross-cutting issues (criminal justice information, juvenile justice, victims and witnesses, and international cooperation).
Like all the other parts of the toolkit, this document will be updated periodically.
You are invited to provide comments, corrections and suggestions to UNODC: criminal.justice@unodc.org
Crime prevention assessment tool (pdf)
UNODC Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit
