The Congress took place from 26 September to 1 October and brought together representatives of governments, international organisations, the expert community and academia.
One of the main outcomes of the event was the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The document sets out directions for international cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice for the coming years. The areas identified include combating corruption and illicit financial flows, asset recovery, strengthening international cooperation, and developing mechanisms to deprive criminal groups of the proceeds of illegal activities. In December, the Declaration will be submitted to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice for consideration at its reconvened thirty-fifth session.
Particular attention during the Congress was paid to corruption risks in prison systems.
In particular, on 28 September, the ancillary event “From Risk to Reform: Countering Prison Corruption” was held, focusing on the impact of corruption in places of detention on human rights, independent monitoring, corruption risk management and strengthening integrity in correctional institutions.
In addition, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, together with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, presented a new guide, “Integrity Behind Bars: A Guide on Corruption Risk Management in Prison Systems”. The guide is designed to support the systematic identification and assessment of corruption risks in prisons and the development of measures to mitigate them. This approach treats corruption not only as the result of individual misconduct, but also as a risk associated with the organisation of processes, staff powers, control systems and other features of the operation of correctional institutions.
Another area presented at the Congress was the integration of measures to combat money laundering and corruption. The International Monetary Fund is preparing to launch a new Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption Thematic Fund. It will serve as a unified capacity development platform to support member countries in tackling money laundering, terrorism financing, illicit financial flows and corruption.
The new mechanism will build on the IMF’s existing work on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and reflect the interlinkages between financial integrity, governance and corruption risks. Support will be provided both to individual countries and through regional and thematic projects, with priority given to high-risk jurisdictions, low-income countries and fragile states.
