Director-General/Executive Director
Doha, 14 April 2015
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for coming to this special event, which brings together key partners from the UN system, to have a candid discussion on how we can ensure that the rule of law assistance provided in conflict and post-conflict situations is coherent and as effective as possible.
Our discussion today can help to identify what has worked and what has not in providing rule of law assistance, and make recommendations for future approaches.
Police, justice and corrections are essential for restoring and rebuilding peace and security, from the initial to the final stage of a peace operation.
In a conflict or immediately at the end of a conflict, any steps to re-establish basic police presence, whether through UNPOL or national police, need to be followed by efforts to re-open courts, and assess and improve prison conditions.
UNODC has worked closely with DPKO on developing a number of tools based on international standards to support this process, including the recent Prison Evaluation Checklist for Post-Conflict Settings.
In the later stage of a peace operation, police, justice and corrections components are essential to re-establish the rule of law and build national capacities.
UNODC and other agencies have worked together with DPKO in supporting national capacity-building, including to respond to complex threats such as organized crime, terrorism and corruption.
Finally, a proper planning and transition plan needs to be developed and implemented before mission draw-down.
It is particularly crucial to ensure that any assistance provided will either be continued by another partner or that the national institutions are self-sustaining.
Thankfully, we have moved away from an approach where development actors started working after a peace operation had been wrapped up, and where work on supporting justice and corrections often came in long after support to the police or other institutions.
Joint programmes are being developed between DPKO, UNDP, UNODC, OHCHR and UNWOMEN within the GFP setting.
Such integrated approaches are clearly needed. Conflicts today are increasingly internal and regional, and cannot be easily separated from elements of criminal activity, violent extremism and terrorism.
UNODC's experience and expertise can help to address these complex phenomena in the context of rule of law support.
Examples of this include UNODC's contribution to the UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel, a region that is particularly vulnerable to the interlinked threats of organized crime and terrorism.
Our approach addresses the inter-regional, regional and national dimensions, and encompasses criminal justice reform and improving operational cooperation between actors of the criminal justice system, in particular police and prosecution, as well as specialized responses to diverse forms of crime, including corruption.
Despite our limited resources and reliance on extra-budgetary funds, we have done our utmost to assist field presences in responding to the needs of Member States, and I welcome the efforts of GFP management to include UNODC in the GFP arrangement.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Member States have repeatedly recognized the threat posed by drugs, crime, corruption and terrorism to global development, peace and security, and the need to enhance international cooperation to confront these challenges.
We need States to help turn good intentions into action, and invest in our efforts to confront organized crime and terrorism, and promote the rule of law, including through our participation in the GFP, as well as through our programmes on the ground in key countries and regions.
Thank you.