Topic: Combating Transnational Crime Organizations
Transnational crime is a key issue facing the international community, as it compromises safety, disrupts economies, and promotes governmental instability. Transnational crime is estimated to illegally generate hundreds of billions of dollars a year, while costing human lives. Transnational crime is a broad issue, including the trafficking of goods, drugs, and people, as well as efforts to launder money and hide evidence. Many factors influence the ability to combat organized crime, including government stability and integrity, economic conditions, border security, and willingness for international cooperation. In the modern age, criminal organizations have become increasingly reliant on technology, which has allowed them to expand their reach and pursue new avenues of crime.
The United Nations and UNODC has been actively engaged in combating transnational crime for decades. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000, and has since been supplemented by various protocols to outline how the international community should respond to organized crime, under leadership of UNODC. According to the 2023 Annual Report of the UNODC, collaboration between member states and the UNODC’s land-based initiatives resulted in the seizure of 250 tons of cocaine, 205 tons of precursor chemicals, and 490,000 pieces of weapons and explosives. The UNODC also conducted or contributed to 241 human trafficking/migrant smuggling investigations. November 15, 2024 also marked International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime (TOC), established by the UN as a global call for action on this issue.
Despite some success, it is clear that there is more to be done to prevent, disrupt, and end organized crime. This committee should focus on failure points within the international response to organized crime, and how to address these issues. International organized crime is a complex and ever-evolving challenge, so the committee will need to look for best-practices or recent innovations to address this issue.
Are there any successful efforts to address organized crime in your country or region? How could these solutions be adapted or expanded?
What are the key failure points when addressing organized crime in your country, region, or internationally that will need to be addressed in a resolution?
Research Links:
https://www.un.org/en/peace-and-security/transnational-crime
https://www.unodc.org/documents/AnnualReport/UNODC_REPORT_2023-WEB.pdf
https://www.unodc.org/toc/en/crimes/organized-crime.html
