AS DELIVERED
Thank you to the organizers of today’s event and to all of the panelists.
The United States is a strong supporter of the work of UNODC and is proud to be its largest donor. In 2021 alone, we contributed over $138 million dollars to UNODC to fund a wide range of drugs and crime-related projects around the world.
We welcome the release of the Strategic Vision for Latin America and the Caribbean and the close coordination with donors and member states during the development of this document. UNODC’s four investment areas in Latin America closely align with the priorities of the United States in this region.
Globally, the United States is focused on combatting corruption, misuse of synthetic drugs, and cybercrime. We’re elevating those priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean as well. We value UNODC’s strong partnership in implementing high-quality technical assistance programming in these important areas, based on verified best practices.
We welcome UNODC’s work to improve and expand anticorruption programming to hold corrupt actors accountable and support civil society and independent actors work to do so.
As synthetic drugs, especially fentanyl, continue to kill people worldwide, the work that UNODC does to support experts to better identify illicit substances, safely handle, and properly dispose them is increasingly important.
UNODC’s expertise in cybercrime policy and law is invaluable to addressing this serious threat. We applaud UNODC’s programming in this area, as well as its efforts to serve as secretariat for the ad hoc committee for negotiations on a new UN cybercrime treaty.
UNODC is a valued partner in these efforts, and we commend Executive Director Waly for her strong leadership of the organization. Thank you.
Original source can be found here.
