Director-General/Executive Director
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Sono onarata di essere qui con voi oggi al vertice Italia – Africa.
It is an honor and thank you very much to the Government of Italy for inviting UNODC to participate at this important and timely discussion.
It was said today repeatedly this morning that Africa carries bright promise not just for its own people, but for the whole world.
Africa’s people are the youngest of any continent, and it has unmatched potential for renewable energy and for global food security.
But today, mounting insecurity is curtailing Africa’s great promise.
For Africa to continue to grow, the international community must support Africa, by putting the continent’s future in the hands of its own people to pursue peace, justice, and sustainable development, and to support Africa’s security sector.
As we cross the midpoint of our road to Agenda 2030, Africa is at a crossroads.
Prospects for innovation and growth are being stifled by cycles of violence and strife.
Frequent coups and ongoing conflicts are causing death and displacement. It is estimated that some 40 million people are displaced in Africa today, primarily by conflicts.
We know that poverty, chronic food shortages, and the climate crisis are driving people to desperation. The World Food Programme expects a record number of over 50 million people to go hungry this year in West and Central Africa alone.
Rampant corruption and illicit financial flows continue to rob Africa of resources and opportunities, while undermining governance and rule of law.
Adversity is driving many young Africans to resort to terrorist and terrorist groups, who abuse vulnerability to recruit them.
Trafficking of illicit goods is threatening economies and societies. Illegal exploitation of resources continues to drain African economies. And maritime crime is undermining the blue economy and the livelihoods of coastal communities.
Terrorism continues to be a central driver of insecurity across all regions of Africa, and the Sahel is now considered to be the global epicentre of terrorism, overlapping with organized crime and armed conflict.
Through our Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessments in the Sahel, UNODC has found that fuel trafficking is generating significant revenue for armed groups in the region; that firearms trafficking is deepening conflicts and fuelling insurgency; and that gold trafficking drives conflict between communities, armed groups, and government forces.
Excellencies,
Deficits of trust, security, and rule of law are driving some Africans to leave their countries.
In the absence of options to migrate safely and regularly, migrant smugglers are taking advantage of them.
UNODC’s analysis shows that migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean is increasing.
We estimate that at least 293,000 people were smuggled or attempted to be smuggled on routes between North Africa and Southern Europe in 2023 alone, primarily on the Central Mediterranean route from Tunisia to Italy.
This constitutes a 66% increase over our estimates of 2022.
And Europe is not the only destination to which migrants and refugees from Africa are smuggled.
Some are smuggled within Africa itself. Increasingly, some are being smuggled to the Gulf States. And there is an emerging trend of some being smuggled to South America and the Caribbean.
In addition, people from South Asia and Syria are increasingly being smuggled via North Africa to Italy in recent years.
Whatever the destination, some lose their lives on the way, particularly at sea, while others are subjected to trafficking, exploitation, and human rights abuses.
Excellencies,
Interlinked security challenges stand in Africa’s way to security, and we have to address them.
But if the right investments are made now, they can help clear the road.
Firstly, we must prioritize people, including by protecting people who are at risk on migration journeys and safeguarding their rights, supporting victims of crime, terrorism, and exploitation, and ensuring that all responses respect human rights and due process.
Secondly, we must support African criminal justice systems and provide them with the capacities to investigate, prosecute, convict, and incarcerate offenders in line with international standards.
And thirdly, we must invest in prevention and work with communities, including with women and youth, as well as victims of crime and ex-offenders through a whole-of-society response. We must also provide people with opportunities for a dignified life.
Our Office is on the ground, working through 40 field offices with over 450 staff across the continent, and last year we have delivered 110 million dollars in technical assistance to the security sector and beyond.
Our activities include extensive work on responses to trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Our project to dismantle trafficking and smuggling networks in North Africa, for example, reaches almost 1,300 practitioners.
We are also supporting regional cooperation initiatives, conducting awareness-raising campaigns about the dangers associated with irregular migration, and assisting African countries on financial investigations and border control, among other things.
I would also like to highlight our work on preventing and countering terrorism in Africa.
In Mauritania, for example, we helped create a group of female religious leaders, known as "Mourchidates", to promote resilience to violence and extremism.
In the Sahel, we are working towards the establishment of youth networks to prevent violent extremism.
And in Nigeria, UNODC helped refurbish an important evidence storage facility, with the support of Italy.
Going forward, UNODC is looking to expand our work in Africa in various cross-cutting dimensions.
We have deployed a new Youth Advisor to the continent.
We are pursuing new research work to address significant data gaps across the continent.
We are looking to harness the evolving landscape of AI and technology.
And we are expanding our work on crimes that affect the environment, a priority issue for Africa.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As Italy prepares to take over the Presidency of the G7, the future holds opportunities.
We will count on Italy’s support to underline the need to include strong, rights-based responses to organized crime, corruption and terrorism in development interventions in Africa, and to incorporate these issues in the Mattei Plan and the agenda of the G7.
With our mandate, knowledge, and experts on the ground, UNODC stands ready to translate commitment into positive change.
Let us work together to end the spiral of violence and exploitation, and to empower Africa to lead the way towards a brighter future.
Thank you.