On 20th Anniversary, UNODC eyes the future with confidence and a determination to help make world safer
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) marks 20th Anniversary with a special event and a congratulatory message from UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/p>\n
VIENNA, 14 September (UN Information Service) \u2013 \u201cI am proud of the support UNODC provides to countries to tackle the interlinked problems of drugs, organized crime, terrorism and corruption,\u201d UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said in a video message played at a special event marking UNODC\u2019s anniversary.
Acknowledging UNODC\u2019s important work to safeguard agreed United Nations conventions, standards and norms, Mr. Guterres added: \u201cWe work together to strengthen our United Nations and help meet the challenges of our time.\u201d
UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov said, in a keynote speech delivered at the special event: \u201cTerrorism, cybercrime, cryptocurrencies and the dark net are the unintended beneficiaries of globalization.\u201d
He said: \u201cTransnational organized crime groups are exploiting vulnerabilities, crises and enforcement gaps wherever they find them, to expand their reach and diversify their activities.\u201d
Mr. Fedotov noted that globalization had delivered many positive benefits, but the international community was grappling with problems based on asymmetric globalization that had left people behind, undermined trust and created instability.
He warned of a growing nexus between transnational organized crime and terrorism that encouraged cultural property trafficking and generated funds for terrorists.
The event, Mr. Fedotov said, was an opportunity to reflect on the changes, acknowledge the challenges and renew the organization\u2019s commitment to strengthen future cooperation.
He said 20 years ago, there was no globally agreed definition of such terrible crimes as human trafficking, and corruption was not always considered a criminal offence.
Mr. Fedotov said: \u201cNow conventions and instruments on crime and corruption are ratified by nearly every country in the world \u2013 a flexible framework enabling international cooperation, and encouraging the sharing of standards.\u201d
But, he acknowledged, the problems remain equally formidable, with the threats of drugs, crime, terrorism and corruption always evolving and emerging. \u201cMuch work remains to be done,\u201d he stressed.
The private sector and civil society were also important partners in UNODC\u2019s work, said Mr. Fedotov, particularly in the areas of drug prevention, anti-corruption initiatives, education and promoting fair play in sports.
In the health field, Mr. Fedotov noted UNODC was an active UNAIDS co-sponsor, and was heavily involved in strengthening HIV prevention, treatment and care for people who use drugs and for people in prison.
Closing his speech, the UNODC Chief said: \u201cI would like to thank all my UNODC colleagues, in particular those on the frontlines in the field, for their hard work and dedication.\u201d
Other speakers at the event included: Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Austrian Minister of Health and Women\u2019s Affairs, Tanja Wehsely, Member of the Vienna City Council and the Vienna Provincial Parliament, Bente Angell-Hansen, Chair of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Mitsuru Kitano, Chair of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Marcel Pe\u0161ko, Director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre, and Viroj Sumyai President of the International Narcotics Control Board.
Prior to the event participants viewed a photo exhibition of UNODC over 20 years and cut a ceremonial birthday cake provided by the City of Vienna.
UNODC was established in 1997 in Vienna when the UN International Drug Control Programme and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division were combined to create greater cooperation and coordination against drugs and crime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On 20th Anniversary, UNODC eyes the future with confidence and a determination to help make world saferUN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) marks 20th Anniversary with a special event and a congratulatory message from UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres VIENNA, 14 September (UN Information Service) \u2013 \u201cI am proud of the support UNODC provides to […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italiarappvienna.esteri.it\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}