PROGRAMMES TO COMBAT CORRUPTION, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, ORGANIZED CRIME ANNOUNCED BY CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION
Press Release
SOC/CP/210
PROGRAMMES TO COMBAT CORRUPTION, TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, ORGANIZED CRIME ANNOUNCED BY CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION
19990311 VIENNA, 11 March (UN Information Service) -- Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP), announced today the launch of three new global programmes to combat corruption, trafficking in human beings and organized criminal groups in the continuing fight against the growth of transnational crime."Over the past few years, the enormous growth in international crime has been matched by increasing concern at the international level," Mr. Arlacchi said, on presenting the programmes at a meeting of Vienna's Permanent Missions, chaired by the Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations, Irene Freudenschuss-Reichl.
The first project, the Global Programme against Corruption, to be jointly developed by the CICP and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Center Institute (UNICRI), will include a global study of corruption, including the types and effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, as well as a technical cooperation component.
As a crucial outcome of the study, the UNICRI will set up an international database that will be available to all member countries. It will include updated information on the study's results, best anti-corruption practices and international instruments against corruption.
The technical cooperation component will assist member states in building or strengthening their ability to prevent, detect and fight corruption. Activities will include assessing national measures against corruption and providing advisory services, as well as training policy-makers, judges, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel and members of the financial world. At the international level, the project aims to monitor the transparency of public tendering and other areas subject to corruption in participating countries.
The complete programme should last about three years at an estimated cost of $6.5 million.
To help governments and the international community tackle the growing problems of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, the CICP and
UNICRI will undertake a second programme, the Global Programme against Trafficking in Human Beings. This project, expected to take three years and cost about $6.5 million, will focus on the growing involvement of organized criminal groups with smuggling and human trafficking. It will also promote national and international "coalitions" among law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, victim assistance groups and other specialized bodies in combating these practices.
"Part of the reform of the United Nations created a new mandate for the Centre to address transnational organized crime. Since then, and particularly since the negotiations for the new Convention began, Member States are looking to us to play a leadership role in this area," Mr. Arlacchi said.
The third programme -- Global Studies on Organized Crime -- will assess organized criminal groups worldwide and give member nations as well as the international community reliable information and analysis on emerging transnational criminal organizations. The findings of this project, expected to last about five years and cost $4.5 million, will allow the CICP to expand its technical cooperation activities and help countries draw up appropriate strategies to combat the problem. One of the outputs of the study will be a biennial World Drug Report on Organized Crime.
The Center for International Crime Prevention and the United Nations Drug Control Programme make up the two component parts of the Vienna-based United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP). The CICP's main aims, as mandated by the United Nations General Assembly, are to promote international cooperation in crime prevention and control, support the development of criminal justice systems and assist member countries in crime prevention and criminal justice efforts.
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