Comment in the context of “Constructive Dialogue on International Cooperation”, September 13th, 2023
We as Women’s Federation for World Peace International (UN Vienna office), deeply appreciate the effort made by the UNODC NGO Liaison office to bring together government representatives with civil society stakeholders.
These are very important steps to further the fight against transnational organised crime.
In combating any type of criminal activity, we as WFWPI are coming from the angle of prevention, trying to get to the root causes: We see education as one of them.
Education starts in the family:
If we reflect for a moment, what helped us in our own lives to become the person we are today? Of course, it is our own decisions that we made, maybe from an age of 17, 18 years on, some even from a younger age. We made our decisions according to our goals in life, made experiences and it brought us forward.
But when we were a very young child, it was our parents who made decisions, maybe our grandparents; we met teachers along the way and some of them may have really impressed us, moulded us with the way they thought and acted.
So, it was our family - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, even our elder siblings who were our first teachers, and who created a surrounding that gave us the security to grow up! And second came the school and the teachers.
Third comes the society, governments, local and national authorities who create opportunities for young people for learning and development of skills and talents, through which they can later contribute to the society (through their profession).
Young people need to feel that they are part of change and development;
That they play an important role for the future of their country;
That they are part of the changes that are necessary in their respective surroundings.
They are actually the future of a nation!
The topics at WFWPIs most recent side events were:
Encouraging Involvement of Young People in Community Development and Entrepreneurship - To counter the abuse of Narcotic Drugs and other Criminal Activities
CND 66, March 2023,
Preventing Crime through Encouraging a Healthy and Sustainable Lifestyle for Young People, Best Practices, 11COP -UNTOC, October 2022,
As the family is the first place of education for each one of us, we chose the following topics:
Strengthening Family Relationships as a Means for Crime Prevention: The Role of Parents
CCPCJ 31, May 2023
Healing Family Relationships is Healing Society and reducing Vulnerability of Young People
CCPCJ 32, May 2023,
https://www.wfwp-europe.org/post/side-event-at-commission-of-crime-prevention-and-criminal-justice-conference; https://youtu.be/AyQsjPwDe2M
These are also our recommendations:
· Strengthen and support families and the role of parents - provide space for parental skills training, measures against violence in the family, communication training;
· Invest in education and skills training, including training on civic values;
· Professional training and support to enter the job-market, and also support entrepreneurship (through start up loans, microcredits, etc.) often young people have innovative ideas which could help to solve issues, but they need help to start;
· Online education -. Through online education even remote areas can be reached when internet is provided!
· Co-operations of universities and areas in the countryside;
· Local governments cooperation with NGOs, who are often times already active in certain areas.
On behalf of our young colleague, who stems from a migrant family herself we would like to add the following paragraph as migration is one of the defining global issues:
„While migration can empower and emancipate women, female migrants are also in many cases more vulnerable to human rights abuses because of the very fact of being women and foreigners. The migration process, which can also be thought of as a life cycle process, has different implications at each stage of the life cycle for each individual migrant. It begins with the decision of the individual or family to migrate, moving typically through the various stages of travel, entry, and settlement, acquisition of nationality and/or return and reintegration.
An environment that promotes solidarity, diversity and openness is essential for resettlement to grow sustainably.
A welcoming and inclusive society can support the integration of young generation by ensuring opportunities for newcomers voice and meaningful participation in the community.“
These are some recommendations that are on our heart; Please see the material given in the reports of the Side Events.
Maria Riehl, Renate Amesbauer, Lilly Gundacker, Sola Safi