Publications

The report describes the results of a pilot project on the needs of families in the prevention of drug use among young people, conducted by UNICRI from January 2019 to August 2020. As part of this initiative, UNICRI carried out research activities in Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia, with the aim of identifying and exploring the priority aspects to support and consolidate the protective role of the family in the prevention of drug use among young people. Scientific evidence has indeed demonstrated the potential role of the family not only in facilitating the onset of problems related to drug use,

Organised crime produces significant amounts of illicit revenue and proceeds globally and in Europe. Georgia has implemented impressive reform measures to combat corruption, organised crime and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in the country, providing a positive example for the region. Despite this progress, Georgia still deals with certain criminality inside the country. The principle criminal activities in Georgia include theft, fraud, drug-related crime, property crime, cybercrime and financial crime. Significant levels of IFFs might have been produced by this criminal activity in recent

Les victimes engendrées par la violence armée au Mali ont été multipliées par quatre entre 2016 et 2019, et les jeunes sont parmi les plus touchés par la situation. Bien que de nombreuses initiatives aient été lancées pour prévenir et lutter contre l’extrémisme violent au Mali, il reste un manque de compréhension autour de l’interaction des facteurs qui conduisent les personnes –en particulier les jeunes– à soutenir l’extrémisme violent. Alors que l’impact socio-économique et psychologique nuisible du terrorisme continue d’affecter la vie des jeunes maliens, il est de plus en plus urgent de co

Organised crime produces significant amounts of illicit revenue and proceeds globally and in Europe. This report is part of the series of action oriented research on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and Asset Recovery that the European Union and UNICRI are launching to shed light on the significant damage being caused to States as a result of unchecked IFFs, and on the significant value of prioritising the capture of illicitly-obtained assets linked to such IFFs. Organised criminal activity in Moldova largely reflects and aligns with regional patterns involving the scope, nature, and impact of s

Since 2012, Mali has faced significant instability, increasing episodes of violence and ongoing tensions generated by separate but interlinked issues, including scarcity of resources, longstanding intercommunal tensions, poor governance and weak provision of services. In such a context, various armed and terrorist groups have established their presence in Mali, initially in the north of the country but with a clear shift towards the centre and the south in recent years. The institutional fragility, increased availability of weapons, effects of climate change on a traditional pastoral and agric

Risks and technology options The Report describes how terrorist, violent extremist and organized criminal groups are trying to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to expand their activities and jeopardize the efficacy and credibility of response measures by governments. The COVID-19 crisis has amplified misinformation and disinformation on social media and has created new opportunities for violent non-state actors. In recent months UNICRI has detected an exponential increase of malicious use of social media to undermine trust in governments and, at the same time, to reinforce

DALLAS, November 19, 2020 – A jointly developed new report by Europol, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and Trend Micro looking into current and predicted criminal uses of artificial intelligence (AI) was released today. The report provides law enforcers, policy makers and other organizations with information on existing and potential attacks leveraging AI and recommendations on how to mitigate these risks. Read the Report: Malicious Uses and Abuses of Artificial Intelligence “AI promises the world greater efficiency, automation and autonomy.

Download the French version FOREWORD by Henrike Trautmann, Acting Director for the Neighbourhood South, DG NEAR, European Commission and Antonia Marie De Meo, Director of UNICRI "Violent extremism remains a persistent threat to peace and stability in the Sahel and Maghreb regions. It continues to cause death, injury and the destruction of property, disrupting the lives of ordinary citizens in the process. Nearly 6,000 people have lost their lives in ongoing conflicts between 2015 and April 2020 in ni

“This issue of the Magazine Freedom From Fear (F3) The day we discovered our fragility and our strength addresses the collateral effects of COVID-19 impacting criminal justice, namely, the growing influence of organized crime and terrorism and the rise of violence against and exploitation of women and children. I wish to commend all the authors and the Ghent University for exhibiting their commitment to research and innovation during these challenging times. The COVID-19 virus knows no boundaries. It is laying bare weaknesses and vulnerabilities in even the most powerful countries and the r

The potential of the Artificial Intelligence for law enforcement, legal professionals, the court system and even the penal system to augment human capabilities is enormous. However, we need to truly test the limits of our creativity and innovation to overcome the challenges that come with these technologies, as well as to develop entirely new approaches, standards and metrics that will be necessitated by them. In this regard, contained within the pages of this UNICRI Special Collection on Artificial Intelligence, are a selection of articles from innovative minds in academia to stimulate di