Abu Dhabi closes landmark UN Crime Congress with pledges from more than 60 countries

Abu Dhabi: The biggest UN Crime Congress in history has wrapped up in Abu Dhabi, and the focus now shifts from agreement to action.

The 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice concluded yesterday, with more than 60 countries making time-bound commitments to strengthen criminal justice responses, widen access to justice and improve international cooperation against global crime threats.

From declaration to delivery

Through the Pledge4Justice initiative, Member States set out concrete steps through 2031 to put the Abu Dhabi Declaration into practice.

The declaration was adopted by acclamation at the start of the Congress and provides a forward-looking global framework for cooperation against fast-evolving crime, including the exploitation of digital technologies.

The United Arab Emirates, which hosted the Congress, has pledged funding to support follow-up on the declaration, helping to keep the Abu Dhabi commitments on the international agenda.

Consensus is still possible

In her closing remarks, Monica Juma, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), pointed to the spirit of the meeting.

"Abu Dhabi demonstrated that consensus is still possible even at a time when multilateralism is considered under considerable pressure," she said, adding that common ground can be found when countries focus on the collective challenges they face and on the needs of the people, they protect.

She also pointed to that the growing scale of global crime calls for more cooperation and more interoperability between countries.

Three areas of action

The pledges cover three broad areas:

Technology and innovation: harnessing new technology while strengthening responses to technology-enabled crime, including digital justice and stronger cybercrime capabilities.

International cooperation: stepping up work against organized and other serious crime, including illicit financial flows, asset recovery and transnational crime.

People-centred justice systems: building more effective and inclusive systems, with commitments on crime prevention, access to justice, victim protection, rehabilitation and reintegration.

A record gathering

The Crime Congress is the world's largest gathering of policymakers, civil society and other stakeholders in crime prevention and criminal justice. The Abu Dhabi edition was the biggest so far, with some 119 countries represented and more than 5,100 participants from governments, the private sector, civil society and academia.

With the Congress behind them, attention turns to follow-up. The pledges run through 2031, and the UAE's funding support is intended to keep momentum going as countries move from commitments to implementation.