Mr. Chairman,
It is our honor once again this year to propose for adoption, on behalf of the co-sponsors, the draft resolution, “Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity” (document A/C.3/68/L.18/Rev.1.).
Let me express Italy’s sincere appreciation to the 84 Member States, who have co-sponsored this resolution from the beginning, as well as the other Member States from all Regional Groups that have joined us so far, namely, Andorra, Angola, Bahamas, Cameroon, China, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Mali, Moldavia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sudan, and Uruguay.
As in the past, we are confident that other Member States will join us from the floor.
Mr. Chairman,
There are few issues on the UN agenda as global as the fight against transnational organized crime.
In its different forms and manifestations, crime directly impacts all member States without discrimination. It affects human welfare, state stability, economic growth and social development. Crime and violence are a development issue.
We need a common, holistic and global response to this scourge, which no State can hope to defeat on its own.
Mr. Chairman,
As in the past, the three main purposes of the resolution are:
First, to build consensus on and highlight the fight against transnational organized crime in the broader framework of the United Nations’ policies and actions. The resolution will grant greater visibility and encourage a renewed political commitment to this issue in the UN agenda.
Second, to promote the universality and effective implementation of all pertinent United Nations instruments, in particular the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its additional Protocols, thereby strengthening international cooperation.
Third, to confirm the membership’s support for the technical assistance activities of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in this field.
Mr. Chairman,
The present draft is the result of several rounds of informal consultations, conducted in full transparency and for the sole purpose of achieving consensus and adopting non-divisive solutions. I would thus like to express my sincere thanks to all the delegations who contributed to the discussions for the quality of their inputs, their constructive spirit and their flexibility. Thanks to their tireless efforts, we were able to improve the original draft in many respects, and to incorporate into the text important issues, such as:
• the implementation of the Global Plan of Action on Human Trafficking and support for the UN Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children;
• the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls;
• the gender-related killing of women and girls;
• the relationship between rule of law, development and the protection of all human rights;
• strengthening international cooperation to combat trafficking in cultural property and related offences, and to facilitate the recovery and the return of stolen assets to the Countries of origin;
• asset recovery – with a reference to the return of illicitly-acquired assets (through corruption) to the countries of origin;
• strengthening international cooperation and capacity building to combat trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora, timber and timber products, as well illicit trafficking in precious metals;
• prevention of criminal activities, including terrorism, in the tourism sector;
• encouraging Member States to give adequate consideration to the linkages between crime prevention and criminal justice, in one hand, and social and economic development, in the other hand;
• smuggling of migrants;
• combating trafficking in persons for the purpose of extracting organs;
• the establishment of the International Anti-Corruption Academy;
• support for the UN Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery;
• and, last but not least, the need to improve UNODC’s financial situation.
All these updates are focused on the decisions taken and resolutions adopted by consensus in the last 12 months by the GA, ECOSOC, and the CCPCJ, as well as on the upcoming UN events and processes related to the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular, the preparations for the 13th UN Congress of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
I have no doubt but that all Member States will find their views reflected in the text of the resolution.
The balanced solutions that we formulated together always enjoyed broad support from the membership.
Let me conclude, Mr. Chairman, by reiterating that, as in the past, we are counting on the broadest support of Member States.
