Celebrating 20 years of fighting illegal drugs and crime

On 14 September the UK joins others in celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the formation of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, known as the UNODC.

The UNODC was set up in 1997 from a merger between the UN’s Drug Control Programme and the UN’s Centre for International Crime Prevention.

Today, the UNODC’s work programme consists of three pillars;

• enhancing Member State capacity to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism;
• leading research into drug and crime issues to support policy and decisions at the UN level; and
• work to uphold the international rules-based system by supporting ratification and implementation of international treaties on drugs and crime.

During those 20 years, the UNODC and its member states have achieved terrific results.  Highlights for the UK have included:

• The signing of the UN Conventions against Corruption (UNCAC), and Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC or ‘the Palermo Convention’).  These instruments provide legal foundations for the global response needed to tackle organised crimes such as modern slavery, human trafficking, the illegal wildlife trade, smuggling of migrants, money laundering and corruption.
• The work of the UNODC’s drugs lab, and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in countering the global threat of New Psychoactive Substances or NPS.
• The remarkable success of the Global Maritime Crime Programme in helping bring an efficient, internationally supported, and human rights-based criminal justice response to help combat the threat of global piracy – with great results eg off the Horn of Africa.
• The UN’s first ever World Wildlife Report, produced in 2016 by UNODC and funded by the UK, which shone a light on this damaging phenomenon and its links with transnational organised crime and corruption.
• The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in 2016, which reinforced our joint commitments to counter drug trafficking, whilst recognising the human rights and public health based responses which are also needed.

The UK will remain focused on these issues.  We will also help drive the global response to the emerging international drugs and crime issues of our time, such as modern slavery, the illegal wildlife trade and cybercrime; and will remain an active supporter of, and donor to, the UNODC.

We look forward to working closely with UNODC in the months and years ahead.  Happy birthday!