Statement by the Director-General, Ms. Jan Beagle
27 September 2026, Abu Dhabi
Mr. President,
Executive Director Juma,
Excellencies,
Colleagues and friends,
It is a pleasure to join you today on behalf of the International Development Law Organization, the only global intergovernmental organization exclusively devoted to promoting the rule of law to advance peace and sustainable development.
I thank the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the warm welcome and congratulate Executive Director Juma and UNODC for the impressive organization.
IDLO values its partnership with UNODC and looks forward to strengthening it as we implement the commitments made here.
Like many of you, I travelled to Abu Dhabi directly from the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York.
A common theme in the interventions of world leaders was the need to protect the rules-based international order in the face of multiple global challenges.
And this is true not only globally, but nationally and locally.
So this Congress is very timely with its objective to galvanize collective action to accelerate progress on crime prevention, criminal justice, and the rule of law.
The criminal justice landscape is increasingly complex and transnational.
Justice systems need to evolve to respond to new and emerging threats.
IDLO works across the entire criminal justice chain in diverse legal systems.
We help partners design practical, tailored solutions that prevent crime and address its underlying drivers.
Drawing on this experience, allow me to share three ways in which we can accelerate progress.
First, we must put people at the centre of justice systems
When justice is slow, costly, or out of reach, grievances accumulate, disputes escalate, and public trust declines, creating a fertile environment for violent extremism and criminal networks.
People-centred solutions such as legal aid, mobile courts, community mediation and alternatives to detention can play a critical role.
Particular attention must be paid to the needs of women, young people and those in vulnerable situations. In this regard, IDLO welcomes the Generation Justice Initiative.
We are seeing concrete progress.
In the Sahel, stronger coordination across the criminal justice chain has reduced pre-trial detention from as long as 16 years to under one year for most detainees.
In Central America, the juvenile justice system is moving from a punitive approach to a preventive one, with the best interests of the child at its centre.
And in East Africa, in communities under intense climate pressure, elders and courts working side by side are resolving disputes over land and water in days, before they escalate into violence.
The returns are often greatest where the justice gap is widest.
In one partner country, sustained support for survivor-centred justice has helped raise conviction rates for violence against women from 20 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent in 2024.
Secondly, we must scale up legal cooperation to keep pace with transnational crime
Organized criminal networks increasingly exploit borders and institutional vulnerabilities to traffic people and illicit goods, move criminal proceeds, and evade accountability.
They represent a critical threat to security and stability at global, regional and national levels.
We need stronger legal frameworks, independent justice institutions, and effective cooperation across borders.
In the Horn of Africa, closer integration between the Financial Reporting Center, investigators, and prosecutors has led to convictions for terrorist financing, the freezing of bank accounts, and the return of illicit funds to the economy.
Third, we must make justice systems ready for the digital revolution
Technology brings major opportunities, but criminals have embraced it faster than public institutions.
IMF research shows that cyber-enabled fraud has nearly tripled, and AI is making attacks faster and cheaper.
In East and Southeast Asia alone, UNODC estimates that scams cost victims up to 114 billion dollars last year.
In some developing economies, scam losses now equal more than three percent of GDP.
Justice systems need the laws, the skills, and the tools to respond.
IDLO works with partners to implement digital solutions and support justice institutions to adopt new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in ways that make them more effective, accessible and accountable.
The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, signed by more than 70 States in Hanoi last year, and now with 93 signatories, is an important step.
We look forward to its ratification and stand ready to work with UNODC and all our partners to support its implementation.
Mr. President,
The Abu Dhabi Declaration provides a strong framework for our collective response to these challenges.
We particularly welcome its recognition that sustainable development and the rule of law are mutually reinforcing.
As the Secretary-General reminded the General Assembly last week, the power of the law must prevail over the law of power, and effective multilateralism requires the pursuit of justice in all its dimensions.
And trust in justice is built not only in conference halls, but in families, communities, courtrooms and informal and customary mechanisms, in every part of the world.
Five years from now, at the next Congress, I hope that we can say that we used our time well.
That fewer people waited in detention without trial.
That fewer victims were left without a remedy.
That technology is being used for the benefit of all.
Safer communities, effective institutions, and just futures do not happen by chance.
They are powered by the rule of law.