unodc

An eight-year-old girl hides her face at a UNICEF-supported centre in Haiti that provides temporary care and support for trafficked children while authorities search for their parents. (file)
UNICEF/Marco Dormino

Human trafficking: UN chief calls for action as COVID leaves ‘many millions’ more vulnerable

29 July 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday urged States to take action against human trafficking, where a third of all victims are children.

The potency of cannabis has increased by as much as four times in parts of the world over the last 24 years.
Unsplash/Wesley Gibbs

COVID pandemic fuelling major increase in drug use worldwide: UN report

24 June 2021
Law and Crime Prevention

Around 275 million people used drugs worldwide in the last year of unprecedented upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, up by 22 per cent from 2010. That’s among the key findings of the latest annual report released on Thursday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which also provides an overview of global drug markets, as well as their impact on people’s health and livelihoods.

Forensic police investigation in developing countries is a key part of tackling organized crime.
UN Photo/Martine Perret

Greater cooperation urged worldwide as criminals seek to profit from COVID-19

12 October 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

With criminal networks looking to profit from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical for governments to work together in line with a landmark UN treaty to combat human trafficking, gun smuggling and other cross-border crimes, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday. 

Farmer Nurul Haque stands near his 13-year-old daughter in Bangladesh, saying he may have to pull her from school and marry her off to an older man because he has few financial options left.
UNICEF/UN0159775/Nybo

Report reveals linkages between human trafficking and forced marriage

7 October 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Across the world, girls as young as 12 are being forced or tricked into marrying men who exploit them for sex and domestic work, in what the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called an “under-reported, global form of human trafficking”. 

The UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand, Gita Sabharwal (centre background) joins a patrol on the Mekong River.
© UNODC

Fighting drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle: a UN Resident Coordinator blog

20 September 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Drug trafficking has long been a problem in the Golden Triangle, the region where Thailand’s Chiang Rai province meets Myanmar and Laos. In this blog, Gita Sabharwal, UN Resident Coordinator in Thailand, and Jeremy Douglas, who represents the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, explain how the United Nations and the Thai government are working together to tackle the issue.

Rescued orphan elephants at David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya.
UNEP/Natalia Mroz

Wildlife crime putting environment and health at risk: UN report

10 July 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

The COVID-19 pandemic shows how wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment but to human health, according to a new UN report issued on Friday.

Poppy field.
UNODC

COVID-19’s far reaching impact on global drug abuse

25 June 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

More than 35 million people around the world now suffer from drug addiction, according to the latest annual report on the scourge, from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on Thursday, which also analyzes the far-reaching impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global drug markets.

Two girls apply make-up at Kandapara, a brothel in the city of Tangail, Bangladesh. A man offered them to find them jobs, but instead sold them to Kandapara. (2009)
© UNICEF/UNI91025/Noorani

COVID-19 crisis putting human trafficking victims at risk of further exploitation, experts warn

6 May 2020
Law and Crime Prevention

Lockdowns, travel restrictions, resource cutbacks and other measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are putting victims of human trafficking at risk of further exploitation, while organized crime networks could further profit from the pandemic, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Ukrainian activists are fighting corruption in all levels of society.
UNDP Ukraine

Last 30 years have seen major progress in fight against corruption: senior UN official

13 December 2019
Interviews

The UN is committed to fighting corruption, which affects all countries.

Ahead of a conference in Abu Dhabi, to discuss issues relating to the Convention, John Brandolino, Director of the Division of Treaty Affairs for UNODC, spoke to Elena Vapnitchnaia, about the ways that thinking about corruption has evolved.

Audio -
7'18"
Neil Walsh, Chief of the Cybercrime and Anti-Money Laundering unit of the UNODC.
UN News/Matthew Wells

‘We all have a role to play’ battling growing scourge of cybercrime

9 October 2019
Interviews

In an era when a lone cybercriminal can sow chaos, taking whole countries offline, everybody in the world with a smartphone in their pocket, has “a role to play” in the fight against the growing scourge. That’s the view of Neil Walsh, chief of the cybercrime team which is part of the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime. Matt Wells asked Mr. Walsh to describe the state of the underground cybercrime industry worldwide today.

Audio -
9'6"