International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against All Forms of Transnational Organized Crime

  The first meeting of this group will take place in Vienna from 30 June to 2 July 2025, and may be followed by a second meeting in early 2026, ahead of the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in the United Arab Emirate s in April. The group will be expected to report on its work at the 13th UNTOC COP in October 2026. This new process is the culmination of a long-brewing movement towards addressing environmental crimes beyond what can be controlled through CITES. For example, it builds on progress made at France’s initiative to push forward resolutions on environmental crime that are within the scope of existing UN instruments. Crucially, in 2022, Resolution 31/1 of the UN Commission of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) , tabled by Angola, Kenya and Peru called for views on a potential new protocol on wildlife trafficking to be collected (the first time a protocol had been mentioned in a UN resolution). This followed a campaign led by the Globa...

  Analysis from the Americas Region observatories on llegal mining and gold supply chains in Ecuador . In recent years, Ecuador’s gold sector has transformed dramatically. Once a largely informal livelihood, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has evolved into a criminally exploited industry. This report investigates this transformation and the illicit gold supply chains that are fueling it. Drawing on interviews, fieldwork, and open-source analysis, the report examines how systemic vulnerabilities have enabled organized crime groups (OCGs) to capture sections of the ASGM sector and launder gold and illicit finance into formal supply chains. With limited government oversight, widespread corruption, and a culture of impunity, Ecuador’s gold sector has become a major source of income for OCGs, alongside growing violence, environmental degradation, and financial crime. Let's  focus on the critical gold processing hubs of Zaruma and Portovelo, in El Oro province . Gold e...

  Coalescing a more coherent and effective international response was a daunting, but necessary common objective of the government of France and the GI-TOC, who invited a diverse set of participants in Paris for the third security and development dialogue on environmental crime in Paris in April 2025 , with the financial support of the European Union through the ECO-SOLVE project. The event is part of a series aimed at building political will and momentum for a more ambitious global response to environmental crime through the multilateral system . The dialogue series aims to determine shared priorities for action and to prepare for collective engagement ahead of important multilateral processes taking place in 2025 and 2026, with an agenda focused on ways of prioritizing environmental crimes for urgent and collective action at global, regional and national levels to protect both people and planet . As such, it enables participants to:discuss strategies to draw attention to the env...

  The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) was active at the CCPCJ throughout and will participate in the following events during the week, to Highlight the latest research and activities related to enhancing understanding of issues on the agenda at this year’s CCPCJ , including crime prevention and community resilience, crimes that affect the environment, organized fraud operations, youth criminality , human trafficking and other challenges. They contributed with recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of policy responses, for better impacts on communities and societies around the world. Side event: Raising awareness of the global impact of fraud . Download. Side event: Prevention of lethal violence in organized crime - focused deterrence and other preventive strategies . Download . Side event: Responding to youth criminality linked to transnational organized crime in the Nordic and Baltic regions . Download . Breakfast event: Building resilienc...