United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a United Nations agency which was founded in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention with the intent to fight drugs and crime on an international level. This intent is fulfilled through three primary functions: research, lobbying state government to adopt various crime and drug based laws and treaties and assistance of said governments on the ground level.

The agency, employing about 500 staff members worldwide, is headquartered in Vienna with 21 field offices and a New York City liaison office. The agency is led by an Executive Director appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. Presently, that position is filled by Antonio Maria Costa, an Italian native who also holds the position of Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna. The long-term aims of the body are to better equip governments to handle drug and crime related issues, maximise knowledge on the issues among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of states, and also to maximise awareness amongst the general population. Approximately 90% of the Office's funding comes from voluntary contributions, mainly from governments.

In October 2002, the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) was merged into the UNODC.

[edit] External links

• About Us, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
• Official website
• Organization of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Secretary-General's bulletin, ST/SGB/2004/6, 15 March 2004.
• 2006 World Drug Report
• UNODC Makes the Case for Ending Cannabis Prohibition, Inadvertently
• Asia & Pacific Amphetamine-Type Simulants Information Centre - an extensive information source on Amphetamine-Type Stimulants in Asia managed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime