The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997, UNODC has approximately 500 staff members worldwide. Its headquarters are in Vienna and it has 21 field offices as well as a liaison offices in New York. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, for 90 per cent of its budget.
UNODC is mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. In the Millennium Declaration, Member States also resolved to intensify efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, to redouble the efforts to implement the commitment to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism.
The three pillars of the UNODC work programme are:
Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence-base for policy and operational decisions;
Normative work to assist States in the ratification and implementation of the international treaties, the development of domestic legislation on drugs, crime and terrorism, and the provision of secretariat and substantive services to the treaty-based and governing bodies; and
Field-based technical cooperation projects to enhance the capacity of Member States to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism.
Globalization has created an environment where illicit drugs, crime and terrorism can flow easily across borders. The welfare gains to be had from open trade and flow of public goods are, however, offset by the globalization of threats to human security. UNODC s interventions are therefore designed to contribute to the following outcomes:
Governments will be better equipped to fulfil and implement their obligations under the international treaties, particularly through effective judicial cooperation, prevention and counter measures against illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime, money laundering, corruption and terrorism;
Decisions by policy-makers will be more evidence-based, relying on more extensive and intensive knowledge of illicit drugs, crime and terrorism issues;
Civil society and public opinion will be more firmly committed to action against the illicit drug and crime problems, relying on greater awareness and understanding of the issues.
