Global Initiative

Has environmental crime changed during the COVID-19 crisis?

... As we see clean skies above formerly polluted cities, many environmentalists are celebrating the reduced impact on nature from the lowered consumption of fossil fuels and human activity. Most have no...

Posted on 27 May 2020

Author(s): Shirleen Chin, Angélica Yovana Murillo Vega

UN-TOC Watch

Wildlife trafficking: Time for a radical rethink

... From calls for blanket bans in wildlife trade to the need for a new global agreement that focuses on wildlife crime, COVID-19 has shown the shortcomings of current efforts to curb the illicit wild...

Posted on 27 May 2020

Author(s): John M. Sellar OBE

Wildlife Watch, APA-Obs

China’s wildlife trade policy: What has changed since COVID-19?

... Since the start of 2020, we have seen some important changes in China’s wildlife trade policy. Although some represent significant new restrictions on commercial wildlife trade, much trade in th...

Posted on 27 May 2020

Author(s): Aron White

EUR-Obs

Lockdown in lock-up: Italy’s prison system has been plunged into crisis by the pandemic – and by the mafia.

... Mafia bosses 'free to come and go as they please'. Italy's prison system has been plunged into crisis by the pandemic – and by the mafia. The country's crime syndicates may have emerged healthie...

Posted on 20 May 2020

Author(s): Sergio Nazzaro, Lyes Tagziria, Ruggero Scaturro

Global Initiative

Economy, freedoms shrink in vulnerable Western Balkans

... Although the Western Balkans Six have not been as severely affected by the pandemic as other European countries, there is a risk that the unfolding economic crisis will intensify the region’s vulne...

Posted on 20 May 2020

Author(s): Fatjona Mejdini, Walter Kemp

Global Initiative

A Tale of Two Countries: COVID-19 and organized crime in the Korean Peninsula.

... There couldn’t be a starker contrast. Since its first confirmed case of an infection in late January, South Korea has responded swiftly and decisively, setting in motion a series of medically and t...

Posted on 20 May 2020

Author(s): Joongyoung Hahm, Mark Ronan

APA-Obs

Pakistan’s pandemic challenges

... In Pakistan, the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded critical economic challenges, as well as issues related to governance and internal security. The outbreak has also brought about a series of chang...

Posted on 20 May 2020

Author(s): Ian Tennant, Milos Jakovljevic

SEE-Obs

Tackling Serious and Organized Crime in the Western Balkans

Tackling Serious and Organized Crime in the Western Balkans

... Organized crime is not a new phenomenon in the Western Balkans. Yet, despite its pervasiveness, research on the topic is scarce. Information is often anecdotal, and data is limited and frequently ...

Posted on 18 May 2020

NAS-Obs

Mobility and conflict in Liptako-Gourma

Mobility and conflict in Liptako-Gourma

...Over the past four years the triangle border region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – known as Liptako-Gourma – has experienced heightened intercommunity violence and attacks by violent extremist ...

Posted on 15 May 2020