Director-General/Executive Director
Minister Nordio,
Excellencies,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak at this session, and allow me to express my gratitude to Italy for being our gracious host.
Thank you, Minister Nordio, for bringing us to this beautiful city with great historic and cultural heritage.
Supporting justice, integrity, accountability, and rule of law in Ukraine is of critical importance at this juncture, and I want to commend the G7 and Ukraine’s commitment to this goal, and thank you for bringing the crucial topics of drugs and organized crime to your important meeting.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime is working with Ukraine, in line with the UN Transitional Framework, which is the strategic document that guides all UN engagement to support Ukraine’s response to the humanitarian, the economic and social impact of the war.
Humanitarian work has naturally been the priority of the UNCT in Ukraine, and the area where most donor resources to the UN are invested, but other areas are also crucial to the effective recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, including support for the rule of law and justice institutions.
As you all know, the fight against corruption and organized crime is a complex journey that entails reviewing legal frameworks, strengthening institutions, and fostering a culture of integrity at all levels.
Trafficking in persons, particularly women and girls, as well as trafficking in drugs and weapons from Ukraine are not new phenomena.
Even before the war, there was a recognition within Ukraine of the challenges that the country faced with corruption and organized crime, and reforms were initiated to address those challenges.
The ongoing war has only amplified the risks of corruption and organized crime for Ukraine’s institutions and people.
Moreover, Ukraine’s post-war recovery and reconstruction will cost an estimated 486 billion dollars, according to the latest Rapid Damages and Needs Assessment by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank, the European Commission, and the United Nations.
The influx of capital will require robust anti-corruption safeguards and strong coordination, to ensure that the funds are not diverted.
Gaps can be exploited by corrupt and criminal actors, undermining Ukraine’s recovery and potentially providing organized crime with opportunities.
The commitment of the Ukrainian government to address corruption is paramount, and the private sector and civil society partners play an important role, too.
UNODC participated in the G7 Ministers of Justice Meeting last year in Tokyo and has been an active participant in the Anti-Corruption Task Force for Ukraine since the Tokyo meeting, and the G7’s support is crucial.
Our Office has been providing anti-corruption expertise to the Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development.
We are also supporting the National Agency on Corruption Prevention to ensure that whistleblower protection and reporting channels are in line with international standards.
And we are providing training to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to improve their investigation capacities.
We are also engaging with authorities to promote business integrity and through Ukraine’s membership in the Global operational network for law enforcement cooperation, GlobE, we facilitate direct contact on corruption cases.
As the guardian of the UN Convention against Corruption, the UNCAC, UNODC is pleased that, despite the obstacles, Ukraine is ready to resume its UNCAC implementation review, a unique peer review process. The outcomes of the review will provide a comprehensive assessment of Ukraine’s compliance with the Convention and will inform future interventions.
UNODC is facilitating this process and will be ready to support any follow-up action to address gaps and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.
In addition to anti-corruption programming, UNODC is engaged with the Ukrainian government on other areas of work in our mandate.
This includes maintaining continuity of treatment for drug use disorders and HIV prevention.
It includes prison reform and repairing the damage done to the Ukrainian penal system.
And it includes preventing and addressing trafficking threats.
Our Office is carrying out an assessment of organized crime in the current context, which will be published later this year, and we will be assisting Ukraine to develop a new organized crime strategy.
Ukraine’s path to recovery will require robust support for anti-corruption frameworks, justice institutions, and the rule of law, as well as strong commitment from its government.
I would also like to thank you, Minister Nordio, for mentioning emerging crimes at the beginning of your speech, be it crimes against the environment and cybercrime, in view of transformative technological developments; two areas in which UNODC is expanding and strengthening its work globally.
We stand ready to back Ukraine and the G7’s commitments towards rule of law and international cooperation, and I encourage G7 Member States to help us carry out such commitments by providing the needed resources to multilateral support.
Thank you.