Joint Statement on behalf of Non-Governmental Organizations

President, Excellencies, Delegates,

The Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is honoured by the invitation to address the 14th Crime Congress with this joint statement prepared on behalf of the NGO community.  Civil society includes a wide range of stakeholders and has a special place in the history, tradition and mandate of the Congress, which is a forum for exchange of ideas and experiences, rather than a policy-making body.

In preparation for the Congress, the Alliance asked civil society through a survey to indicate their needs, priorities and expectations.  Despite the diverse nature and interests of the NGOs surveyed, there was agreement about the continued challenges to effective crime prevention and fairness of the system, and how COVID-19 represents an additional stressor. The pandemic generates effects on criminal markets, and places additional pressure on criminal justice systems. As an international community we believe in a whole-of-society approach to overcome such challenges and we encourage effective monitoring of crime trends, fairness of criminal justice systems, and impact of programmes and policies.

NGOs confirmed that crime prevention, gender sensitive policies, trafficking in persons, victims rights and optimal care, and an explicit desire to match policy making with scientific evidence are of utmost importance. In addition, is the need to effectively address corruption, domestic violence, violence against women, femicide, issues related to children and youth, prisons reform, organized crime, terrorism, and cybercrime.

We look forward to rich and effective involvement of civil society in implementing the Kyoto Declaration, and in preparations for the next Crime Congress. Finally, we strive for increased opportunities for access and meaningful participation of civil society in all relevant processes. Specifically, civil society should be more engaged in the development of political declarations and programmes of action, and in the review mechanisms of international conventions.

We reiterate our appreciation to the Host Country and the Secretariat for facilitating the participation of civil society in this special occasion, to ensure that our contribution to the UN Congress will be maintained and enhanced in line with tradition. This is even more important today that the prevention of crime and strengthening criminal justice institutions feature prominently among the goals of the 2030 Agenda. We look forward to a very dynamic Congress, with a rich programme of Ancillary Meetings, in which we hope there will be large participation, even in the hybrid format.

Thank you.

Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

03 Mar, 2021