Calls For More Global Co-operation

UN Anti-Terrorism Official Calls For More Global Cooperation To Tackle Transnational Crime

New York, Oct 5 2006 2:00PM

A top United Nations anti-terrorism official has urged greater global cooperation to combat transnational crime and drug trafficking, warning that the scourge is one of the greatest challenges to international peace and security.

Jean-Paul Laborde, Chief of the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told the General Assembly’s Third Committee yesterday that networks involved in drugs, crime and terrorism were exploiting globalization, threatening State sovereignty and endangering security.

Greater regional cooperation was needed as, by definition, the trafficking of drugs, guns and people involved more than one State, he said, urging all 192 members of the UN to become party to and implement without delay the Conventions on Organized Crime and on Corruption. At the moment there was much room for improvement, he added.

Hardly a day went by without another news story about the smuggling of migrants, human trafficking, organized crime, corruption, or violence connected with drug trafficking.

He said the UNODC could help provide legal and technical assistance for States regarding these conventions, as part of the agency’s effort to become the world’s conscience on drug control and crime prevention, although it was up to States themselves to keep each other accountable.

Mr. Laborde also highlighted various regional efforts undertaken by UNODC in the Gulf States, Central Asia, West and Central Africa, and East Asia, adding that it was moving towards a more integrated approach to making the world safer from drugs, crime and terrorism, but it needed stable and predictable resources to meet rising demands and expectations.

One encouraging sign had come from the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by the General Assembly in September, he said, noting this had underlined the need for States to become parties to, and implement, the Conventions on Organized Crime and on Corruption.

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