As part of its Education for Justice (E4J) initiative, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed the University Module Series on Organized Crime with a view to supporting tertiary level educators in their efforts to transfer knowledge and create a deeper understanding of rule of law related issues.
The University Modules on Organized Crime are part of a larger effort made by UNODC to facilitate and promote teaching on issues related to UNODC's mandate areas, including not only organized crime but also human trafficking and migrant smuggling, counter-terrorism, cybercrime, anti-corruption, crime prevention and criminal justice, firearms trafficking as well as on integrity and ethics. For each of these areas of work, UNODC created one University Module Series, developed by and for professors through a participatory consultation process that counted with the involvement of more than 600 academics from universities worldwide. These Module Series provide lecturers with the guidelines and resources to build comprehensive, cross-discipline courses and aim at sharing stories, good practices and lesson learned across national borders. To increase their effectiveness, the Modules connect theory to practice, encourage critical thinking, and use innovative interactive teaching approaches such as experiential learning and group-based work. The Modules are multi-disciplinary and can be integrated in a series of courses ranging from law to international relations, sociology, anthropology, economics, criminology and many other disciplines. By focusing on the United Nations tools and definitions, the Modules leave room for diverse perspectives and lecturers can easily adapt them to different local and cultural contexts.
Originally developed in English, the University Module Series on Organized Crime was translated to French and adapted to reflect some of the experiences of countries in Francophone Africa to tackle this phenomenon. Both the English and French versions of the material will constitute the base for discussion during this first-ever Summer School programme, which will be held in Porto-Novo (Benin), between 8 - 12 July 2019.
This Programme is the result of a collaboration between UNODC and the Regional Higher School of the Magistracy (ERSUMA) of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa ( OHADA). OHADA's mission is to harmonize business Law in Africa in order to guarantee legal and judicial security for investors and companies in its Member States. Within this context ERSUMA is a centre for training, capacity-building, research and documentation on OHADA business law. ERSUMA relies on specialists in Member States to carry out its activities. It provides trainings at its headquarters, in other Member States or remotely via videoconference. The target for training includes all legal professionals (judges, lawyers, bailiffs, corporate lawyers, accountants etc.).
UNODC is organizing this Summer School under the framework of the Education for Justice initiative, which forms part of UNODC's Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice into the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and Economic Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels, and Public Participation. The activity is supported by UNODC SHERLOC portal - Sharing Electronic Resources and Laws on Crime - an initiative to facilitate the dissemination of information regarding the implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the three Protocols thereto and the international legal framework against terrorism.
The objective of this Summer School is to bring together university lecturers and trainers of higher education institutions (such as police colleges, magistrate schools, etc.) from the region in order to:
After the Summer School, participants will be expected to teach or use at least one of the modules in the upcoming academic year and will be asked to provide UNODC with feedback on the quality and user-friendliness of the materials. This feedback will enable UNODC to continuously improve the modules, with the ultimate aim of promoting quality organized crime education worldwide.
This is an invitation targeted to lecturers, trainers and PhD students, particularly those coming from/teaching in one of the countries contained the list specified further below.
Applicants should be willing and able to commit to using parts of the E4J University Module Series on Organized Crime for their teaching in 2019/2020. In the context of this training activity, experts are also expected to research, analyse and draft a case brief on a case of jurisprudence from their country and/or region, to be included in SHERLOC's Caselaw Database and presented at the end of the training course to the other participants.
The Summer School programme will be conducted in both English and French. Applicants should be fluent in one of these two language and have a good knowledge of the other.
Although applicants coming from/teaching in the whole African continent can participate, we strongly encourage application from Member States of Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA):
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
The participants will be selected on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
Only successful applicants will be notified by mid-June 2019.
UNODC will fund participation in the workshop of international participants (including participants from other cities of Benin) in accordance with UN financial regulations and rules. This will include a round trip air ticket in economy class to Porto-Novo (Benin) and daily subsistence allowance, at the official UN rate for Benin to cover the costs of accommodation, meals and terminal expenses.