United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
UNODC headquarters in Vienna
Abbreviation	UNODC
Formation	1997
Type	Agency
Legal status	Active
Head	Executive Director Yuri Fedotov
Parent organization	United Nations
Website	www.unodc.org

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (in French Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime) is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group and was renamed the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2002. In 2016 - 2017 it has an estimated biannual budget of US$700 million.

The agency, employing between 1,500 and 2,000 people worldwide, has its headquarters in Vienna (Austria), with 21 field offices and two liaison offices in Brussels and in New York City. The United Nations Secretary-General appoints the agency's Executive Director. Yuri Fedotov, the former Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, has held this position since his appointment in 2010, when he succeeded Antonio Maria Costa in his personal capacity, and also as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.

The office aims long-term to better equip governments to handle drug-, crime-, terrorism-, and corruption-related issues, to maximise knowledge on these issues among governmental institutions and agencies, and also to maximise awareness of said matters in public opinion, globally, nationally and at community level. Approximately 90% of the Office's funding comes from voluntary contributions, mainly from governments.

UNODC incorporates the secretariat of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

UNODC was established to assist the UN in better addressing a coordinated, comprehensive response to the interrelated issues of illicit trafficking in and abuse of drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism, and political corruption. These goals are pursued through three primary functions: research, guidance and support to governments in the adoption and implementation of various crime-, drug-, terrorism-, and corruption-related conventions, treaties and protocols, as well as technical/financial assistance to said governments to face their respective situations and challenges in these fields.