NEW BOOK ON 'UNITED NATIONS AND CRIME PREVENTION' ISSUED TODAY
Press Release
PI/955
NEW BOOK ON 'UNITED NATIONS AND CRIME PREVENTION' ISSUED TODAY
19960617 A revised and updated version of The United Nations and Crime Prevention, originally published in 1991, was released today by the Department of Public Information (DPI).The 160-page book reviews recent crime trends, ranging from the growth of "crime multinationals" and international money-laundering to "eco-crime", "cyber-crime" and large-scale trafficking in illegal migrants. It also addresses contemporary ways of looking at old problems, like violence against women, juvenile delinquency and crimes against cultural patrimonies.
Among other facts presented in the updated version of The United Nations and Crime Prevention are that:
-- Organized international crime, with annual sales estimated at $100 billion a year, has become a political and economic force capable of changing the course of development in countries and entire regions;
-- The world-wide incidence of criminal activity is increasing at a rate of approximately 5 per cent a year, even after population growth is taken into account; and
-- Most governments in developed countries allocate between 2 and 3 per cent of their budgets on crime control, and in developing countries the proportion is usually between 9 and 14 per cent.
In addition, the revised publication provides a synopsis of the United Nations congresses on the prevention of crime and treatment of offenders, which have been held every five years since 1955. The outcome of the ninth congress, held in Cairo in 1995, is among the updated portions of the book.
Detailed information about the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is also provided. The Commission is a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council and its secretariat is based in Vienna. Reflecting the rising level of concern with which crime is regarded by the international community, the General Assembly, in the context of its adoption of the programme budget for the biennium 1996-1997, decided to upgrade from the level of a branch to that of a division the secretariat charged with carrying out the Commission's mandates. The Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division of the United Nations Office at Vienna fosters international cooperation
- 2 - Press Release PI/955 17 June 1996
against cross-border crime and helps countries strengthen their criminal justice systems and share viewpoints and experiences.
Appended to the book are synopses of all major United Nations guidelines, standards and other international instruments in the criminal justice field, including the Naples Political Declaration and Global Action Plan against Organized Transnational Crime, adopted at the 1994 World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime.
* *** *
NOTE:The United Nations and Crime Prevention (Sales No. 96.IV.9) at $14.95 per copy (in English), may be obtained from the Sales Section, 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York, NY 10017, tel: (800) 253-9646 or (212) 963-8302; fax: (212) 963-3489; e-mail: publications@un.org; or Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva, tel: 41-22-917-2614; fax: 41-22- 917-0027; Internet: http://www.un.org/Pubs.