The Education for Justice (E4J) initiative of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, issued by the 13th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice 2015 and funded by Qatar, has been awarded the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General 2020 Innovation Award, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Saturday.
The Doha Declaration global programme, implemented by the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), includes four main areas: judicial integrity, education for justice, protection of youth from crime through sport, and the rehabilitation of prisoners.
The E4J initiative aims to prevent crime and establish a culture of lawfulness through educational activities specifically designed for the primary, secondary and university levels of education.
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Doha Declaration Global Programme successful in implementing its projects: official
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The initiative was chosen to receive the award from among 194 projects submitted by 52 organs of the UN. It is the first time that a project of the UNODC has received a major award of this kind due to its dimensions and implications at the global level and its achievement of impressive results despite difficult conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the QNA report states.
In a video message sent to the United Nations Office in Vienna, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude for the generous contributions made by Qatar to implement what was stated in the global programme of the Doha Declaration.
Guterres said he and UNODC executive director Ghada Waly were looking forward to moving together towards a new generation of initiatives based on this successful experience.
 

HE Major-General Dr Abdullah Yusuf al-Mal
He also appreciated HE Major-General Dr Abdullah Yusuf al-Mal, adviser to HE the Minister of Interior and head of the Follow-up Committee for the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, for his efforts in this regard, Qatar's Ministry of Interior added in a statement.
The latest UN statistics reveal that 2.5mn people from 190 countries have benefited from the activities of the Global Programme, while its educational materials have reached more than 1.4mn students.
More than 170,000 people from 187 countries benefited from direct capacity-building activities of the programme, while more than 11,000 young people were trained on crime prevention through sport. Also, more than 1,500 judges and public prosecutors were
 


John Brandolino, director of the Division for Treaty Affairs, UNODC
trained on issues of judicial integrity, and the Global Network for Judicial Integrity was launched. Besides, 55 training sites were set up on tools for judicial integrity ethics.
HE Major-General Dr al-Mal said the great successes achieved by the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration were behind the E4J initiative, which is a major component of the programme, receiving the award that is granted each year for outstanding work.
He added that the Global Programme reflected the wisdom and foresight of the country's political leadership under His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Qatar's belief in pluralism in international work as well as its endeavour to convert international political commitments into projects on the ground.
After the impressive success of the 13th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
 


Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, chief of the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch at the UNODC
that was held in Doha in April 2015, and the issuance of its political declaration - the Doha Declaration - His Highness the Amir ordered the funding of an international programme to implement the Doha Declaration in co-operation with the UNODC with the aim of assisting countries, in particular developing nations, in addressing organised crime, corruption, drugs and terrorism, and building solid and transparent criminal justice systems, the official said.
He also noted that this international programme is the largest such initiative funded by one State in the history of the UN Office in Vienna, with the distinction of being multidisciplinary, and its four components are closely related to each other.
Waly said the award granted by the UN Secretary-General to the E4J initiative as one of the components of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration is a "welcome recognition of UNODC's capabilities and the potential to innovate within our mandates as we contribute to UN system-wide support to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals".
She pointed out that the Global Programme is distinguished by its comprehensive approach that focuses on people in general, aiming to address many interrelated challenges facing the rule of law.
She added that this programme was built on the experiences of the UNODC around the world, and on its wide field presence to provide assistance at the time and place required, with the office's focus on the property rights of states, in order to move forward towards inclusive and resilient societies and to enhance access to justice with integrity and accountability.
John Brandolino, director of the Division for Treaty Affairs, UNODC, said the Innovation Award is given every year for distinguished work carried out by one of the UN agencies, which contributes to the creation of promising prospects that have a great impact that unlocks potentials for creativity.
In his e-mail message addressed to the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the United Nations and international organisations in Vienna, Brandolino added that Guterres chose the E4J initiative from among 194 projects submitted by 52 organs of the United Nations from 44 UN organisation worksites for the 2020 award.
Brandolino thanked Qatar for its commitment and support to the United Nations Office in Vienna over the past years, looking forward to strengthening the strategic partnership with it through the continuation of consultations on initiatives that fall within the basic issues of the rule of law and develop and support youth empowerment and inspire others to take the initiative.
He pointed out that the tradition followed during the past years is based on arranging a ceremony at the UN headquarters to present the award, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the secretary-general only sent a video message to the UN Office in Vienna informing them of this honour, and also instructing the use of the certificate in any of a future indication of the achievements of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration.
Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, chief of the Corruption and Economic Crime Branch at the UNODC, affirmed that the UN Office, through the Global Programme, provided values-based education and professional training for people around the world to become activists in support of the rule of law and the achievement of justice for all.
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