Next week (20–24 May), UN member states and civil-society groups will gather in Vienna for the annual session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) at the headquarters of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 

The Global Initiative Against Transnational
Organized Crime will be taking an active role at the CCPCJ, hosting events on a
wide range of issues, such as environmental crime, organized crime in the Sahel
and the Western Balkans, the review mechanism of the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, and – most importantly – presenting the launch
of our new Resilience Fund against organized crime. Details of all our events can
be found at the end of this document.

Global
Initiative research and evidence on the issues being discussed

A number of resolutions that will be debated at
this year’s CCPCJ session relate to recent research conducted by the Global
Initiative. In particular, we highlight the following areas in which the Global
Initiative has recently produced research and analysis that we hope can
contribute to productive discussion among CCPCJ delegates.

Precious metals

Peru and South Africa have tabled a draft
resolution, ‘Enhancing the security of supply chains of precious metals against
organized criminal groups’. The discussion of this new topic
for the CCPCJ comes only a few weeks after the publication of our research
paper‘Combating criminal consortia
in the African artisanal and small-scale gold mining and trade sector’ – available
here.

Our report explores how criminal consortia
manipulate this type of mining and trade, and associated gold flows to secure
illicit rents and capture the sector. The findings highlight the need for
nuance, especially regarding the role of informal and traditional actors in the
sector. Through a more holistic understanding of the challenge, policymakers
will be in a better position to identify and combat criminal consortia involved
in this type of criminality.

Cybercrime

Cybercrime has long been a hotly debated issue
at the CCPCJ, and, this year, Austria, Canada and Colombia have tabled a
resolution on the topic. Our recent policy
brief provides background on cybercrime debates at
the UN for delegates who may be dealing with this issue for the first time. This
brief focuses on cybercrime in an international context, exploring in
particular why the UN is still trying to find its footing as an agenda-setting
institution on countering cybercrime.

Environmental crime

Mexico and Peru have tabled a resolution on ‘Strengthening regional cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice responses to illicit trafficking in wildlife’.This is a vitally important topic in many countries and regions. The World Atlas of Illicit Flows, jointly compiled by INTERPOL, RHIPTO (a Norwegian UN-collaborating centre) and the Global Initiative, provides detailed statistics on the damage caused by the flows deriving from the illicit exploitation of natural/environmental resources, including gold, diamonds, timber, oil, charcoal and wildlife.  

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High-level
Global Initiative events at the CCPCJ

We are hosting two high-level events in the
margins of the CCPCJ on the theme of community resilience against organized crime.

Tuesday 21
May, 18:00–21:00, Wolke 21, Saturn Tower

Official launch of the Resilience Fund. Our newly created Resilience Fund aims to counter the impacts of organized crime worldwide by supporting civil-society and non-state actors who operate in environments of criminal governance.

– – –

Wednesday
22 May, 18:00–20:30, Wolke 21, Saturn Tower

Building the resilience of environmental defenders from the threat of organized crime

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We are also co-hosting two official side events
at the CCPCJ: 

Monday 20 May, 13:10–14:00, Room M7, Vienna International Centre

From Trieste to London to Poznan: Mapping local vulnerabilities in the Western Balkans, hosted by the UK

– – –

Wednesday
22 May, 13:10–14:00, Room M7, Vienna International Centre:

The changing face of organized crime in the Sahel, hosted by Norway