A/57/153 I. Introduction 1. The present report, which has been prepared in response to General Assembly resolution 56/123, entitled “Strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity”, updates the information contained in the previous report (A/56/155). 2. Related documents before the Assembly at its fifty-seventh session are: (a) the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (A/57/135); (b) the report of the Secretary-General on the preparations for the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (A/57/___); (c) the report of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of corrupt practices and illegal transfer of funds (A/57/158); and (d) the report of the Secretary-General on strengthening the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Secretariat (A/57/152). II. Major developments 3. The tragic events of 11 September 2001 have alarmed the international criminal justice community and influenced its perspectives on security. In the light of those and other developments, terrorism and organized crime (drug and firearm trafficking, trafficking in persons), money-laundering and corruption have emerged dramatically not only as universal concerns but as global challenges requiring global responses. A strong consensus has emerged that such global security threats must be tackled expeditiously, comprehensively and with a lasting commitment. In addition, international cooperation is generally regarded as essential to the success of any such action. III. Eleventh session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice 4. In the above framework, during the eleventh session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Vienna, 16-25 April 2002), there was consensus among participants that the signing, ratification and coming into force of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its three protocols continued to be the main priority, to be pursued through both international action and domestic efforts. Similarly, there was widespread agreement for strengthened action against corruption and international terrorism. 5. The thematic discussion of the eleventh session of the Commission focused on the theme “The reform of the criminal justice system: achieving effectiveness and equity”. A related one-day workshop, on the theme “Criminal justice reform: lessons learned, community involvement and restorative justice”, was organized by the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network of Institutes during that session. The Network’s institutes held meetings with the Centre for International Crime Prevention to coordinate activities, as a follow-up to the sixteenth coordination meeting of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network, held in Helsinki in December 2001. Those events provided a fruitful ground for exchange of ideas and proposals leading to supporting the major work priorities of the Programme. 6. The Commission recommended for adoption by the General Assembly four draft resolutions, entitled “International cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime: assistance to States in capacity-building with a view to facilitating the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the protocols thereto”, “High-level political conference for the purpose of signing the United Nations Convention against Corruption”, “Follow-up to the plans of action for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century” and “Preparations for the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice”. The Commission also recommended for adoption by the Economic and Social Council eight draft resolutions, entitled “Basic principles on the use of restorative justice programmes in criminal matters”, “Action to promote effective crime prevention”, “Promoting effective measures to deal with the issues of missing children and sexual abuse or exploitation of children”, “United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice”, “International cooperation in the prevention, combating and elimination of kidnapping and in 3