Vienna, 18 October 2024 - The 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC COP12) concluded today after five days of discussions focused on implementing and strengthening measures to address transnational organized crime.
Parties to the UNTOC – the world’s only global, legally binding instrument through which governments commit to act and cooperate against organized crime – meet every two years at the COP to improve their capacity to combat organized crime, review the implementation of UNTOC and its Protocols and set the anti-crime agenda for the future. A record 1,400 participants from 131 States, 15 intergovernmental organizations and 212 non-governmental organizations came together for COP12.
In her closing remarks, Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), praised the scale of active engagement at COP12. “We need to stand together if we are to meet emerging challenges,” she noted. “Criminal networks are rapidly evolving, looking to exploit any and every opportunity to thrive and profit.
“Let us embrace the spirit of dialogue and cooperation that we witnessed over the past week, as we strive for a more just, safe and peaceful world for all.”
Parties to the Convention adopted four resolutions during COP12, covering topics including: criminalization of crimes that affect the environment; preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms in light of technological developments; technical cooperation and the implementation of the provisions on international cooperation of UNTOC.
A Ministerial event, attended by the Ministers of Justice of Angola and Italy and the Attorney General of Uganda along with the UNODC Executive Director, was held on the opening day of COP12 to kick 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 in 2000, will focus on the theme “Organized crime steals, corrupts and kills. It’s time we pull together to push back”.
