REVIEW: Awareness Rising in Armenia on 13th UN Crime Congress

REVIEW: Awareness Rising in Armenia on 13th UN Crime Congress

As you know, The 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was held from 12 to 19 April 2015, in Doha, Qatar, bringing together governments, policy-makers and experts to share their experiences and intensify international cooperation in tackling the threat of transnational organized crime. The Doha Congress marked 60 years of Crime Congresses, which have been held every five years since 1955.

Member States adopted the Doha Declaration on integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider United Nations agenda to address social and economic challenges and to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and public participation.

In the framework of Congress different awareness rising events and trainings were held in Armenia.

Water Day – Wild Life, 23 March

On the occasion of World Water Day DPI Yerevan Office organized a photo exhibition of the journalist, environmentalist and photographer Galust Nanyan titled «Waters of the Caucasus».

The issue and the photos exhibited were directly related to wild life both in Armenia and in the neighboring countries. The exhibition was followed by an education outreach participants of which were the high-school students of six UNESCO-associated schools. The photographer raised the problems related to the water basin of the region.

Educational Outreach on Contemporary Form of Slavery – Trafficking, 25 March

On the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery, and as part of 70 UN4U events series, UNO Yerevan organized an education outreach for 25 high-school students focusing mainly on «Trafficking – The Contemporary Form of Slavery».

The students were accompanied with their teachers and chaperons. Arzuman Harutyunyan, chairman of the «Association of Audio-Visual Reporters» NGO and the founder of the www.antitrafficking.am website was the guest speaker. He screened several PSAs reflecting the current situation in the country which was followed by a lively discussion.

Inter-Agency Working Group on Anti-Trafficking dedicates a Special Session to the 13th UN Crime Congress, 8 April

On 8th of April 2015 with the joint initiative of the UN DPI Yerevan Office and the Inter-Agency Working Group on Anti-Trafficking in the Republic of Armenia a special session was organized dedicated to one of the four agenda items of the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – the Human Trafficking.

The meeting took place in the National Library of Armenia. Other than the working group members UN Armenia staff, journalists and youth were also present.

Vahram Kazhoyan, the Head of the MFA Department of International Organizations, who also leads the working group, opened the session thanking the DPI Office for the opportunity to dedicate this special session to the upcoming Crime Congress.

The UN Resident Coordinator Bradley Busetto welcomed the members of the working group and the audience. In his speech the UN RC expressed his delight on Armenia’s progress in terms of mobilizing local efforts and partnerships in anti-trafficking, successful working relations between Government, NGOs and international community.

Mr. Kazhoyan continued the meeting highlighting that during the recent years the work of law enforcement bodies in Armenia has greatly improved. The Armenian officials maintained strong partnerships with civil society groups and advocated anti-trafficking prevention actions.

In his turn, Lieutenant – Colonel Robert Grigoryan (Head of the Anti-Trafficking Division of the 3rd Department of the MD of FAOC) presented some statistics from the last three years. Through 2012-2014, 46 criminal cases of human trafficking were registered in Armenia which showed that within the last ten years the number of the victims has decreased.

However, cases are continuously registered the main target group being women, and a smaller group – children, while Armenia still appears to be a country of origin. Mr. Grigoryan continued saying that Turkey and Arab Emirates remain to be the home for sexual trafficking while forced labor issue is of crucial importance in Russian Federation.

The Lieutenant-Colonel informed the participants also about an exceptional case of sexual exploitation of Chinese women trafficked from China to Armenia and which has been successfully unveiled.

Talking about global data and information, former UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery – Gulnara Shahinyan told the participants that according to Human Trafficking Global Report, published by UNODC in 2014, there are 152 nationalities among human trafficking victims in 124 countries of the world and the number of child-victims in the world has grown immensely – one of three children becoming victims of trafficking, most of them being girls.

Arzuman Harutyunan, who represents the NGO sector in the working group (Chairman of the Association of Audio-Visual Journalists and the focal point on anti-trafficking advocacy campaign in Armenia), spoke about the current trends in the human trafficking situation in Armenia and to illustrate his observations he screened several PSAs that his organization has prepared.

The Inter-agency Working Group on Anti-Trafficking in the Republic of Armenia has 35 members covering 13 Ministries, other Government entities, representatives from International Organizations and Civil Society Organizations.

Public Discussion on Cybercrime, 10 April

On April 10 UN Department of Public Information together with UNDP «Kolba Labs» innovation labs organized a public discussion on another theme of the Crime Congress 2015 – Cybercrime.

Cybercrime, being an emerging and one of the fastest growing forms of transnational crime, is in the spotlight of IT security experts and law specialists. Young people, IT specialists and social media enthusiasts gathered in the UN house conference hall to listen to the keynote speakers Davit Sandukhchyan, information and telecommunications legislation and policy specialist and Karen Vrtanesyan expert in cyber wars and cybercrime.

Armenia’s participation in the Doha Crime Congress

From April 11 through 13, Armenia has participated in the High Level Segment of the 13th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha.

Follow the link to see the statement of Ashot Hovakimyan – Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Source: Awareness Raising in Armenia on 13th UN Crime Congress