Countering Organized Crime

Peace operations in post-conflict countries are regularly confronted with multiple illegal activities that fall under the heading of organized crime. Attention to this threat has increased in recent years, and the engagement of peace operations in countering organized crime continues to evolve. Several missions, even when not explicitly mandated to counter organized crime, have developed activities and programmes to address needs on the ground and have integrated these efforts into other mandated tasks e.g. in the areas of Policing, Rule of Law or Protection of Civilians.

The UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was mandated to provide technical support to Malian judicial institutions in their efforts to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of organized crime activities including trafficking in persons, arms, drugs and natural resources as well as migrant smuggling. MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and MINUSCA in the Central African Republic assist the government in tackling trade in illegal resources, which primarily benefits armed groups. Similarly, several UN special political missions have carried out measures to counter organized crime. Until its closure at the end of 2020, UNIOGBIS provided strategic and technical advice to the government of Guinea-Bissau in its fight against drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organized crime. The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs’ (DPPA) regional offices in Central and West Africa, UNOCA and UNOWAS aim to strengthen local capacities for countering transnational threats including drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.

Through its presences in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, the OSCE supports national actors in fighting human trafficking, corruption and other organized crime, including by building the capacity of judges and prosecutors. Another central element is strengthening legal frameworks for the criminal prosecution of traffickers and harmonizing national laws with international standards.

Some EU missions have explicit mandates to counter threats arising from organized crime. EUNAVFOR MED IRINI contributes to implementing the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council (> Maritime Security), and to disrupting the business model of human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean. EUAM Iraq supports the development of a national strategy against organized crime, EULEX Kosovo fosters international police cooperation and EUBAM Libya builds Libyan capacity to fight cross-border crime.

As of: 30.01.2024

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