17 October 2016 kicked off of a five-day event, organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, focusing on the issue of transnational crime. Held every two years, this year’s Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) was the eighth since UNTOC was opened for signature in 2000, and gathered some 800 participants from Member States and civil society.
Executive Director of UNODC, Mr. Yuri Fedotov, in his opening remarks stressed that
“The international community has repeatedly recognized that the Convention and its three protocols
[…] are more relevant than ever to address urgent global challenges.”
Referring to the cooperation between UNODC and the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Mr. Fedotov pointed out that
“UNODC has benefitted from CTED’s guidance on countries’ technical assistance needs. We have successfully worked together on a number of joint projects to strengthen rights-based criminal justice responses to terrorism. We remain committed to further strengthening our mutually supportive working relationship to effectively assist Member States in developing their counter-terrorism capacities.”
CTED Executive Director, Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Jean-Paul Laborde, participated in the eighth session and delivered remarks both in the plenary session and at a high-level side event jointly organized by UNODC and the Permanent Mission of France to the UN in Vienna on Strengthening criminal justice responses to the phenomenon of terrorists benefitting from links with transnational organized crime.
Reminding participants that the links between organized crime and terrorism were clearly established by the international community more than 15 years ago, Mr. Laborde underlined that now is time for action.
“In the fight against terrorism much remains to be done, and we all have our roles to play in meeting these challenges and ensuring decisive impact. Da’esh acts quickly and flexibly. We must be as flexible and agile.”
Stressing that the international community is well equipped to tackle the threat and links between organized crime and terrorism, Mr. Laborde encouraged Member States to make full use of the tools and instruments available to them. He also praised the excellent cooperation between UNODC and CTED.
On the margins of the Conference, Mr. Laborde briefed UNODC staff on CTED’s efforts to counter terrorism, including emerging threats and issues in this area.
Mr. Laborde’s full remarks (in French, as prepared for delivery) for the plenary are available here. His speech at the side event can be accessed here. For the full programme of the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to UNTOC, please visit UNODC’s website.