In this episode, Ian Tennant talks to Dr Matti Joutsen, author of a recently published history of the UN Crime Programme, to discuss the history of the UN Crime Congress, and the central role that civil society has played throughout its history. The next Congress, takes place in Abu Dhabi, in April 2026. Dr Joutsen explains how the Congress has evolved, and what diplomats should aim to achieve this time round.

Presenter: Ian Tennant, Director of Multilateral Engagement, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Links:

Book: The United Nations Programme on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice by Matti Joutsen

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw.

Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction.

From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza.

In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime delves into non-fiction books about organized crime and the illicit economy with the authors themselves. He asks questions about their background and investigations, but also the challenges associated in writing about this murky world.

This episode explores the importance of gender equality and gender sensitive policies and programmes in national and international responses to organized crime, including how these issues are approached in multilateral negotiations. Ian Tennant speaks to Ambassador Corinne Kitsell, an experience British multilateral diplomat, who is currently the UK's Permanent Representative to several international organizations in Vienna.

Presenter: Ian Tennant, Director of Multilateral Engagement, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Speakers:

H.E. Corinne Kitsell, UK Permanent Representative in Vienna.

Additional Links:

UN-TOC Watch - UN-TOC Watch aims to support the UN and wider multilateral system so that it can respond more systematically to the threats posed by organized crime and help mitigate its impact in the areas such as conflict and violence, the environment, migration and cyberspace.

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime