Vienna (Austria), 12 November 2021 – The Commission on Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) held its first Thematic Discussions on the implementation of the Kyoto Declaration, from 10-12 November. The event fostered an interactive debate on the topics related to the first part of the Declaration, “Advancing Crime Prevention”.
In March 2021, the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice adopted the “Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law: Towards the Achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
National practitioners and policymakers from over 130 UN Member States, UN entities, other intergovernmental and international organizations, and civil society experts exchanged good practices and lessons learned in addressing the following topics:
Thematic session 1: Addressing the causes, including the root causes of crime; enhancing evidence-based crime prevention and promoting tailor-made crime prevention strategies (10 November 2021).
Thematic session 2: Addressing the economic dimension of crime (11 November 2021).
Thematic session 3: Mainstreaming a gender perspective into crime prevention; addressing the needs and protect the rights of children and youth in crime prevention; and empowering youth for crime prevention (12 November 2021).
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly underscored in her welcoming remarks that “the Crime Commission had a central role to play in shaping shared solutions to address the root causes of crime, create resilient societies, and protect and empower women and youth”. She also stressed that UNODC would continue to support States, as they work together to prevent crime from compromising the COVID recovery, to realize the promise of the Kyoto Declaration, and to make progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Chair of the Commission, Ambassador Alessandro Cortese (Italy), recalled that the intergovernmental follow-up process to the Kyoto Declaration through thematic discussions is the first of its kind for the Commission. He expressed the expectation that, as it has been happening for a few years in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the thematic discussions would help ensure the effective implementation of the Kyoto Declaration and significantly contribute to realizing in full its potential as a milestone for setting global policies on crime prevention and criminal justice for years to come.
Each day of the Thematic Discussions consisted of an introductory presentation and a panel discussion followed by interventions by international organizations and UN entities and an interactive debate. The panels included representatives from Member States nominated by the regional groups, the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network and civil society.
In the Kyoto Declaration, States have expressed their endeavour to take actions to advance crime prevention, advance the criminal justice system, promote the rule of law and promote international cooperation and technical assistance to prevent and address all forms of crime.
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is the principal policymaking body of the United Nations in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. States have in the Kyoto Declaration called upon the Commission to adopt appropriate policy and operational measures for the follow-up to the Declaration.
