11 October - Around 800 Government representatives, crime experts and civil society partners will meet in Vienna from 15 to 19 October for the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), to discuss current global challenges in this field.
Participants of the meeting will deliberate the strategies needed to counter crime based on the Convention. They will review the implementation of UNTOC and its Protocols on trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants and illicit trafficking in firearms, as well as on international cooperation in criminal matters and new and emerging crimes.
The opening session will be addressed by UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov, and the President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, among others.
During the conference, nearly 40 side events will examine a range of topics, including a production titled 'Lawfulness on stage: a theatre play on responses to organized crime'; high-level side events on illicit firearms and gangs in Central America; and on Preventing, Suppressing and Prosecuting Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in Eastern Africa.
There will be numerous exhibitions covering themes from terrorism prevention to trafficking in persons, anti-corruption and wildlife crime, and many more. The event can be followed on social media via the Hashtags #COP9 #UNTOC #15yearsUNTOC, and its opening will be webcast live.
Live webcast of the opening at 10am CEST on 15 October
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
