Ga-ODC

MISSION STATEMENT

The Global Alliance on Drugs and Crime (GA-ODC) aims to be a comprehensive and innovative platform of global outreach pertaining to issues of Drugs and Crime, with offices in New York and Vienna, close to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).   

The GA-ODC, through its all-inclusive tripartite mechanism, will offer representation before international FORAs, strategy coordination and policy formulation to all non-state actors dealing with prevention, suppression and combating of organized crime, of illicit drugs (manufacturing and trafficking), and with other related asymmetric threats such as environmental crimes, dual-use technologies, and terrorism context. The GA-ODC is, therefore, a facilitator and clearing house with the mandate of acting as a liaison – in a tripartite fashion – between the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and other concerned international FORAs on one side, and the UN member states and their respective societal stakeholders on the other side. 

Assistance in implementation, harmonization, and support in monitoring domestic compliance with the International instruments, conventions and protocols in the Criminal Justice System would be i the main scope of work of the GA-ODC.

Human trafficking [including in unaccompanied minors], arms and abuse of illicit drugs, (including the unaccompanied minors) and arms are currently happening as transnational and organized as never before, posing a historic, moral, socio-political and security threats to ever more societies leading to increasing disruption to lives.  

These criminal wrongdoings are happening at an unprecedented scale, of worrying frequency and severity, and thus necessitates immediate and extraordinary actions to mitigate the impact of such crimes.

Over the years, current and past high officials of the UNODC had recognized and acknowledged these concerns, summed up in the following quotation:

“Organized crime has globalized and turned into a security threat” (Costa, 2010; UNODC, 2010). 

In face of these challenges and building upon the impressive legacy of the Alliance of NGOs which is in place since 1972, the GA-ODC aims to go further by mobilizing and engaging all non-state actors active in various aspects of criminal justice, crime combating and crime prevention, in order  to create a shared course of action, align efforts, and improve the implementation of key international instruments.

In order to come up with effective research-informed global strategies to address the root causes of globalized threats, the GA-ODC will attempt to create an exchange mechanism between the UN FORAs (most notably the UNODC), governments and other societal stakeholders. It will seek to facilitate access to research by assessing the needs in the field (through liaising and fact-finding missions), promote deeper interaction and to enhance the multi-stakeholder dialogue between various parties engaged in combating international organized crime. Through  shared efforts of the well-established professional associations and t its tripartite structure embedded in the GA-ODC Steering Board, it would  also try  to bring marginalized and excluded voices from the civil society energetically into a debate and to use their input to deliver positive change on a global scale. 

Populations directly affected by organized crime but excluded from the decision-making need to gain greater access if we are to build a fairer and a more inclusive future.

The mission of GA-ODC would be to strengthen their voices and enhance joint efforts, point them in the right direction and to combine practical and theoretical expertise to assist governments in combating organized crime and related threats worldwide. 

Our priority is to build a diverse, trusted, and inclusive network of institutions and movements well positioned to ask challenging questions and find prompt innovative solutions., to the ever-growing number of global challenges to human security along with its increasing gravity and frequency.

To this end, the GA-ODC will primarily address in its work:

  • Organized crime (incl. Crime prevention, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants);
  • Corruption in both public and private sector (including money laundering, and proceeds of crimes);
  • Illicit drugs (medical and narcotic);
  • Terrorism contexts (non-politico-military);
  • Environmental crimes; and
  • Dual-use/disruptive technologies (including AI, cybercrimes, cyberterrorism, and other so-called human presence eliminating technologies).

These challenges are interconnected, so must be the efforts taken by international FORAs, governments and their respective societal stakeholders. 

The GA-ODC aims to support partner countries to (improve/?) the multilateral cooperation between UNODC) and civil society.

Our goal is to launch innovative ideas and tools to support the UNODC to reach the targets under the various SDGs and to implement the 2030 Agenda (SDG16 & SDG17). It would work in a collective and inclusive manner with due regard to Races, Ethnicities, Religions, Gender Identities, Abilities & Disabilities in order to bridge   the gap between(among?) these sectors. To achieve impactful results, we must take action as one, our team is ready to invest in the advancement of Human Security, join us to pursue these goals.

Global Alliance on Drugs and Crime is looking forward to mutually enriching partnerships and to joint efforts to develop innovative tools and efficient responses to the most pressing issues of Drugs and Crime faced by all citizens of the world today.