United Nations Activities
Participating in the United Nations's (UN) crime prevention program.
- UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
- UN Crime Congress
- UN Program Network Institutes
- Statistical Surveys
UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Dr. Cindy J. Smith, Chief of NIJ's International Center, participated in the 16th United Nations Crime Commission meeting in Vienna, Austria. Many criminal justice issues were addressed at the meeting, with a particular focus on gangs and the sexual exploitation of children. The Commission consists of 40 countries (including the U.S.A.). Dr. Smith served as an advisor to the U.S. delegation (from the State Department) on international criminal justice issues. She also represented NIJ as a member institute of the UN Programme Network Institutes (PNI).
On November 27-30, 2006, Dr. Smith attended a United Nations intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting on UN Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together experts to develop a design for an information-gathering instrument on standards and norms related to crime prevention. UN standards and norms have a long history dating back to 1955; they provide international guidance on issues of crime and justice where law, regulation, or practice is not codified, and they promote the adoption of worldwide consensus on best practices and policy as nations develop new strategies for dealing with crime and administering justice. Proposals coming from the meeting will be considered for adoption at the annual meeting of the UN Crime Commission in April, 2007.
UN Crime Congress
The government of Thailand hosted the 11th UN Crime Congress on April 18-25, 2005. The title of the year's Congress was "Synergies and Responses: Strategic Alliances in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice." Former NIJ International Center Chief Jay Albanese was in attendance.
The purpose of the Congress, which has met every five years since 1955, is to draw government delegations, representatives of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, specialized agencies and other UN entities, as well as individual experts together from a variety of criminal justice fields. Discussions cover a wide spectrum of criminal justice topics.
UN Program Network Institutes
The National Institute of Justice is a member of the UN PNI under the Crime Prevention Program. Member institutes conduct research into crime and justice issues and in some cases, provide training in specific criminal justice-related fields to organizations within their geographic region.
As a member, NIJ provides assistance to the UN with a number of tasks, including:
- Reviewing and providing input on UN resolutions and related documents.
- Analyzing UN surveys.
- Providing delegates for various UN conferences.
PNI meetings occur twice a year, both in the spring and in the fall. The most recent gathering of the PNI occurred in conjuction with the international conference "UN Convention Against Corruption as a Way of Life," which was organized by the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (ISPAC) of the UN and held in Cormayeur, Italy on December 13-18, 2006. International Center Chief Cindy J. Smith attended these events and chaired a panel on corruption at the ISPAC conference.
Statistical Surveys
The United Nations is one of the principal repositories of international comparative crime and justice statistics. Approximately every five years, the UN, through the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), conducts a survey of crime in its member states. The statistics are provided by the member states. There have now been seven such surveys collecting data from 1970 to the present.
Information about the surveys and the results–in tabular form–are found below:
The results of the first five surveys were studied and analyzed in The Global Report on Crime and Justice, published in 1999.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics also provides links to sources of international crime statistics, including the UN surveys and individual country's statistical offices or departments.