Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism

Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism

 

Drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism are difficult issues to confront. The United Nations and the UN system have become a mechanism to mobilize resources and coordinate a response to each of these global problems.  

 

UN Photo/Evan Schneider
A view of the UN Headquarters complex in Algeria destroyed by the 11 December 2007 terrorist attack which claimed the lives of 17 United Nations workers.

Countering Terrorism

The UN’s Victims of Terrorism Support Portal, launched in 2014, is dedicated to individuals across the globe that have been attacked, injured, traumatized or lost their lives during terrorist attacks.  It contains resources for victims of terrorism.

UN Member States, through the General Assembly, have been increasingly coordinating their counter-terrorism efforts and continuing their legal norm-setting work.  The Security Council has also been active in countering terrorism through resolutions and by establishing its sanctions committees.

Guided by Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005), the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee works to bolster the ability of United Nations Member States to prevent terrorist acts both within their borders and across regions.

Countering Drug Trafficking

To help counter drug trafficking, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides technical assistance to Member States. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna is the governing body of UNODC and approves the budget of the Fund of the UN International Drug Control Programme - which accounts for over 90 per cent of resources available to the UN for drug control.  In 2016, the UN General Assembly will hold a special session on the world drug problem, for which CND is now making preparations. UNODC is also the guardian of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Organized Crime Convention) and the three Protocols - on Trafficking in Persons, Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking of Firearms - that supplement it.  This is the only international convention which deals with organized crime, and offers States parties a framework for preventing and combating organized crime, and a platform for cooperating in doing so.