The 11
th United Nations Congress
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, hosted by the government of Thailand April 18-25, marked the 50
th anniversary of UN Crime Congresses. The Congresses, held every five years, aim to enhance international cooperation in preventing the proliferation of crime, the importance of which has been highlighted in recent years as the links between transnational organized crime and local crime become increasingly evident. Outcomes of the Congresses influence national policies and concrete practices, and the Bangkok Declaration, adopted at the end of this Congress, sets the tone for work in crime prevention and criminal justice over the next five years (Bangkok Declaration available online at the
UNODC site.)
The International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), was represented by a delegation of five people at the Congress and was responsible for organizing
Workshop 3: Strategies and Best Practices for Crime Prevention, in particular in relation to Urban Crime And Youth at Risk. A great success, Workshop 3 brought together a wide range of selected representatives and experts from almost 20 different countries to present concrete examples of policies, strategies, and case studies from their respective countries, that demonstrate successful crime prevention strategies dealing with urban crime and for youth at risk.
(See feature article for a more detailed account of ICPC’s workshop. Keynote speaker the Honourable Christopher Martin Ellison, Minister of Justice and Customs, Australia, pictured above).
Inspired by the theme of the workshop, ICPC launched its latest publication
Urban Crime Prevention and Youth at Risk: Compendium of Promising Strategies and Programmes from around the World. This compendium presents concrete examples of an array of crime prevention strategies from around the world, and includes several of the case studies presented at the workshop. We hope that the examples in the compendium will inspire other governments, civil society organizations, and communities to develop their own strategies in crime prevention. A complete version of the compendium if available on the
ICPC website.
ICPC took advantage of the rare opportunity the Congress presented to showcase its own work. Throughout the week, ICPC had a Kiosk in the main area where hundreds of copies of publications and information about the organization and, our partner UN HABITAT, were picked up by delegates from around the world. Workshop 3 participants were also able to showcase their work at the kiosk as well. ICPC was also represented at a second Kiosk alongside our colleagues in the Program Network of Institutes (PNI). A CD entitled ICPC Key Documents was produced for the occasion in both French and English and included the Compendium, as well as other featured publications exemplifying the work of ICPC.
