Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice

8th -10th April 2025, Addis Ababa:

A Productive 3-day Africa Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice scheduled for Abu Dhabi in 2026.

The Ambassador, HE Matilda Alomatu Osei-Agyeman was elected as Vice Chair of the Regional Preparatory together with HE Maimounata Ouattara, Ambassador of Burkina Faso & Coordinator of the Africa Group in Vienna and the Chair of the Regional Preparatory Meeting.

The meeting, which was held under the theme , “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, focused on strengthening justice systems, addressing evolving crime threats, including cybercrime and human trafficking, and enhancing cooperation at regional and international levels.

The Ambassador delivered Ghana’s statements, aligning with the African Group. While highlighting Ghana’s National Initiatives on the theme, she called for Strengthening International Cooperation and urged enhanced intelligence-sharing, cross-border legal coordination, and joint law enforcement, particularly through leveraging regional bodies like the African Union and ECOWAS. On the need to build Institutional Capacity, a the Ambassador made call for increased technical and financial assistance to national institutions— police, judiciary, and prosecution—to improve their ability to fight crime.

She stressed investment in economic empowerment, social inclusion, and youth engagement to tackle the underlying drivers of crime, advocating for flexible international financial support to sustain pro-poor programs.

She also called for strengthening the UNODC, CCPCJ, and UNAFRI, and urged swift ratification of the International Convention on Countering the Use of ICT for Criminal Purposes to address cybercrime globally.