Vienna, 14 October 2024 - The 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC COP12) opened today in Vienna.
UNTOC is the only global, legally binding instrument through which governments commit to act and cooperate against organized crime. With 192 parties, it is one of the world’s most widely ratified conventions.
“The impact of organized crime around the world is growing more devastating than ever before,” said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “For organized crime, every community destroyed is fertile soil, every gap created is a route for trafficking, every gun left behind is a tool of power, and every person affected is a potential target for exploitation, affecting generations to come and always it’s the most vulnerable who pay the highest price.”
Every two years, the parties to the Convention meet to advance their responses to transnational organized crime and to promote and review the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols.
“This session of the COP is an opportunity for all of us to pull together, and to rally around the UNTOC, to push back against this threat,” Ms. Waly added.
Resolutions under discussion include the criminalization of crimes that affect the environment; preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms in light of technological developments; enhancing measures to prevent and combat crimes that affect the environment; organized fraud and sharing electronic resources and laws on crime (SHERLOC) knowledge management portal; the progress of the UNTOC Review Mechanism and implementation of the provisions on international cooperation of UNTOC.
COP12, which will run from 14-18 October, will feature over 50 side events and bring together representatives from over 128 countries.
The opening of COP12 also kicks off a month of observance for the first-ever International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime on 15 November. The day, which will also mark the anniversary of the adoption of the UNTOC, will focus on the theme “Organized crime steals, corrupts and kills. It’s time we pull together to push back”.
