United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, is the UN agency with the mandate to fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997, UNODC has its headquarters in Vienna and carries out a wide range of activities from helping States to fight human trafficking and recover stolen assets; to improving ways of reducing supply and demand for drugs, preventing terrorism, and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS through drug injection.

UNODC support to Member States in their work against organized and other drug related crimes, corruption and terrorism is guided by five international drugs and crime conventions namely: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Convention on Psychotropic Substances, Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Convention against Corruption. UNODC operates globally in assisting Member States to strengthen the rule of law, promote stable and viable criminal justice systems and combat the growing threat of transnational organized crime through its global programmes against corruption, organized crime and trafficking in human beings including its Terrorism Prevention Branch. UNODC also provides accurate statistics through the Global Assessment Programme (GAP) and helps to draft legislation and train judicial officials as part of its Legal Advisory Programme.

UNODC Assistance to Nigeria

UNODC Country Office in Nigeria operates within an integrated and comprehensive Strategic Programme Framework, focusing on partnership with key stakeholders to address crime and drug-related problems in Nigeria. Its priorities are aligned with the seven point agenda of the government, UNDAF, and the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS II). Regional initiatives on drug control, money laundering and trafficking in human beings, as well as initiatives currently ongoing within ECOWAS and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) are also taken into consideration. Four major issues define the current thrust of the evolving 2008 - 2011 UNODC Programme in Nigeria. These are: Judicial Reform and Prisons; Anti-corruption; Organised Crime with focus on drug interdiction and Human security (for HIV/AIDS and victims of crime, trafficking and drug abuse).

Some of UNODC's on-going programme activities include:

• Anti-Corruption: UNODC is presently providing capacity-building in the EU-funded $34 million programme of support to EFCC and the Nigerian Judiciary, to promote effective investigation and prosecution of crimes of a financial nature in the country. The Dutch Government through UNODC supports anti-corruption work in the business sector in Nigeria while the Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) initiative of UNODC with the World Bank continues to support government in the recovery of its national wealth.
• Trafficking in Persons: UNODC is providing assistance to the country through the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP). UNODC has also put in place a coalition of NGOs that educate and provide micro credits to victims of trafficking since 2003. The recently launched United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) also provides a framework of support to assist NAPTIP and other stakeholder to work in partnership to fight this modern slavery of human trafficking.
• Drug law enforcement: UNODC has continued to support national enforcement and training action of NDLEA
• Drug abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention: UNODC is also collaborating with six tertiary institutions in Nigeria's six geo-political zones to strengthen student's affairs departments and provide training to students and university employees on the linkages between drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.