GOVERNMENT officials, policy-makers and experts meeting at the 13th United Nations Crime Congress will consider the role of crime prevention and access to justice for sustainable development. The Congress will be held in Doha, Qatar from 12 to 19 April 2015.The meeting will focus on the links between security, justice and the rule of law, and the means to achieving equitable enforcement at all levels – national to global. Participants are expected to share their experiences, commit to stronger international cooperation in tackling transnational organised crime, and identify ways of integrating crime prevention and criminal justice in the post-2015 development agenda. The Congress theme, “integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider UN agenda” will also highlight the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Supporting the Crime Congress has been the “It’s a Crime” campaign, launched globally in December 2014, which will run in the Caribbean from April to June, 2015. The campaign focuses on different aspects of crime, highlighting their effects on sustainable development and their transnational impact. The global campaign can be followed at: http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/events/2015/crime_congress.html. “It’s a Crime” – Caribbean will be launched online in late April by the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean Area (www.facebook.com/CaribbeanUN).

UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov, says the 13th Crime Congress will “set the tone over the next five years for the way the world confronts crime,” and describes it as the “first step not just to improve criminal justice responses, but towards a better quality of life for everyone.”

The United Nations Crime Congress is convened every five years to establish United Nations standards on issues of crime prevention and criminal justice. The 13th Crime Congress will mark the 60th anniversary of these meetings.

United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean Area

Press Release