Vienna (Austria), 11 November 2021 – Partnership with civil society is key to addressing corruption, drugs and crime. UNODC works with three umbrella organizations to engage civil society in all its mandate areas. Meeting today with Member States, the UNCAC Coalition, the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) and the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Alliance) presented their work and cooperation with UNODC.
Mirella Dummar Frahi, Chief, UNODC Civil Society Unit opened the meeting highlighting the longstanding close cooperation between UNODC and the civil society umbrella organizations on corruption, crime, and drugs, reminding the importance to engage society at large to address such threatening challenges.
Mathias Hutter, UNCAC Coalition's Managing Director introduced the organization and underlined their work in preparation for the upcoming Ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, where they will facilitate the participation of civil society organizations by hosting a full day briefing the day before the start of the conference, in cooperation with UNODC.
Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) board members Heloisa Broggiatio-Matter and Penelope Hill presented the work of the Committee, drawing attention to the “NGO Marketplace”, a joint project with the CSU, which is an interactive online platform for NGOs working on drug related matters and allows them to network and showcase their work.
Anna Alvazzi del Frate, the Chair of the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice came full circle showing the broad work of the Alliance touched to several aspects of UNODC's. She highlighted meaningful contributions of members of the Alliance, stressing that the priority is to strengthen civil society participation that has shrunk during the pandemic.
Ambassador Brigitte Brenner, Head of the Vienna Office of the Inter-Parliamentary Union commended the importance of the work of NGOs for the implementation of UN conventions, in pursuing transparency and the rule of law.
In conclusion, the multi-cooperation with civil society has helped UNODC to effectively support Member States in tackling the world drug problem, addressing organized crime and corruption challenges. Stronger partnership with the three umbrella organizations will continue to be crucial in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The three umbrella networks represent over 600 non-governmental bodies globally, acting as the main conduit for engagement between civil society and UNODC.