Author: keri

Join us live from the from the 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption for our co-organised side event with Besa Global, UNODC, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime and the Governments of Colombia, Iraq, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Corruption and organised crime pose a serious and growing risk to international peace and security. Both are root causes, drivers and consequences of violence, chaos and insecurity. Against the backdrop of mounting global insecurity, rising military expenditure and concerns over the growing violence and national security risks caused by organised criminal and corrupt networks, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings, we aim to explore how the UNCAC treaty can help to counter these threats before, during and after the outbreak of violent conflict.

The UNCAC provides a powerful tool for UN member states and entities to prevent and mitigate the impact that corrupt and criminal networks can have on conflict at all stages. Several steps have been taken in the past years to advance a closer integration of the nexus. At the CoSP10, UN Member States expressed their concern about the links between corruption and organised crime and their threats posed to the stability and security of societies, in resolution 10/5. The previous CoSP in 2021 saw a request for closer cooperation between UN entities in fragile and conflict-affected settings, as resolution 9/2 aimed to strengthen rule of law and anti-corruption measures in UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts.

Speakers

Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church, Executive Director, Corruption, Justice & Legitimacy Program, Besa Global
Jonathan Bourguignon, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer (Anti-corruption), UNODC
Arkan El-Seblani, UNDP Chief Technical Advisor and Programme Manager Anti-Corruption and Integrity, UNDP Arab States Regional Hub
Tuesday Reitano, Managing Director, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)
Yi Kang Choo is Programme Manager at Transparency International Defence & Security (moderator)

Register to watch the live stream

This event has finished, watch the recording below.

Global military expenditure hit a new high of $2.7 billion in 2024.

Meanwhile, progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is severely off-track in their tenth anniversary year.

As governments struggle with the impact of economic decline, trade and geopolitical tensions, funding for peace and sustainable development has shrunk considerably. Big spending hikes for defence are met with deep spending cuts on peace, development, good governance, and human rights initiatives.

Join us online on Wednesday 5 November, 14:00 GMT / 09:00 EST to hear directly from the authors of the recent report by the UN Secretary-General, The Security We Need: Rebalancing Military Spending for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future, as well as experts on civil society engagement and military spending.

We will explore the risks this imbalance in public spending creates, the impact on peace, security and development outcomes and the consequences for civic space.

Speakers

Claudia Garcia Guiza is Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
Nan Tian is Senior Researcher and Programme Director of the Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Emily Wegener is Senior Policy Officer at Transparency International Defence & Security (moderator)

More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks

Register

The webinar will take place on 5 November, 14:00-15:00 GMT / 09:00-10:00 EST using Zoom webinar.

Unable to attend the live session?

No worries! Register to receive a link to watch the on-demand recording anytime.