ASC UNITED NATIONS REPRESENTATIVE

The American Society of Criminology is a non-governmental organization recognized by the United Nations.  The ASC Executive Board appoints a representative to gather information about UN activities related to crime and justice, especially involving the UN Crime Commission which meets annually in Vienna, Austria.

The ASC Board seeks recommendations from the Division of International Criminology when it appoints the UN Representative for a term of two years.

UN Update: Activity during the Pandemic in 2020

Jay Albanese
ASC UN Liaison
jsalbane@vcu.edu
July 2020

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the primary UN body that deals with crime and criminal justice issues. It is primarily focused on organized crime, corruption, human trafficking, terrorism, migrant smuggling, cybercrime, firearms trafficking, wildlife crime, integrity and ethics, as well as more general crime prevention and criminal justice issues. The Executive Director of the UNODC is Ms. Ghada Waly of Egypt, who took office in February 2020. She holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Organized Crime and Civil Society

The United Nations consists of 193 Member States and has cancelled most of its in-person meetings for 2020 due to the pandemic, although the Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) remains scheduled for Vienna, Austria, in October, 2020.

The UN hosted a training (July 21-24) on Stakeholder Engagement for the Implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). The online training aimed at (i) strengthening knowledge and capacity of NGOs, academics and the private sector on the UNTOC; (ii) preparing them for participation in the Review Mechanism, including constructive dialogues with government authorities and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); and (iii) supporting them identify joint actions on ground to counter transnational organized crime. I served as one of the moderators for this event.

Selected new UN publications (all available at no charge):

The UNODC released the World Drug Report 2020 in June, which provides a comprehensive overview of the global drug problem including supply, demand, evolving trends, and related issues. It is published this year in six booklets and is available at no charge at https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/.

A Research Brief (30 pages): How Covid-19 Restrictions and the Economic Consequences are Likely to Impact Migrant Smuggling and Cross-Border Trafficking in Persons to Europe and North America. Published in May 2020.

The Global Study on Homicide was published in 2019 and has been expanded into a special six-booklet format. Booklet 1 summarizes the content of the five subsequent substantive booklets by reviewing their key findings and highlighting a set of policy implications derived from the analyses. Booklet 2 provides an overview of international homicide counts, rates, trends and patterns, and of criminal justice responses to homicide. Booklet 3 examines drivers of homicide, and looks at the different homicide typologies. Booklet 4 analyses the relationship between homicide and sustainable development. Booklet 5 gives an overview of the scope of gender-related killings of women and girls. Booklet 6 deals with the homicide of children, adolescents and young adults.

The World Wildlife Crime Report 2020 will provide estimates, descriptions, and discussion of several wildlife contraband markets. The full report will be published later this summer. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wildlife.html