United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

UNODC is the lead United Nations entity to assist Member States in addressing the threat posed by drugs, crime and terrorism. Headquartered in Vienna, Austria, UNODC has a network of more than 50 field offices around the world, covering over 150 countries. The Office facilitates the ratification and implementation of the relevant United Nations conventions, as well as the application of the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice through a range of actions, including: generating, analysing and exchanging comparative data on transnational threats; promoting cross-border cooperation; ensuring access to technical expertise, global knowledge products and best international practices to prevent and address crime; and promoting criminal justice reform, law enforcement, drug demand reduction, and HIV and AIDS prevention.

The prevention of crime lies at the heart of the work of the Office, which is the custodian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well as standards and norms, including the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime and the Guidelines for Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the Field of Urban Crime Prevention. Recognizing the multiple causes of crime, UNODC promotes strategies and programmes which are multi-sectoral and evidence-based, and which favour a participatory approach. UNODC actively contributes to international, national and local efforts to prevent and control crime, and assists requesting States with enhancing the capacity of key crime prevention actors and systems to operate more effectively, with particular attention to vulnerable groups.