Vienna, 28 November - UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller and the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghada Waly, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during a G77 plenary meeting on 27 November 2024.

The signing marks a new chapter in the partnership between the two organizations, both of which are headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and run development projects and programmes across the world. The MoU highlights a range of areas for cooperation, from environmental crime prevention to anti-corruption and business integrity.

In their remarks Gerd Müller, Director General of UNIDO and the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghada Waly, highlighted the many sectors of cooperation and synergies between the two organizations.

Executive Director Waly stated: “We share a commitment to working as “one UN”, an approach we need now more than ever before, as challenges grow, and resources shrink. Together, we have identified several priority areas for cooperation, in line with Agenda 2030. And providing alternative livelihoods is at the forefront. Alternative development is a pillar of drug control policy, but these projects are about so much more than switching crops. They also reduce hunger and poverty and enable sustainable techniques, encouraging environmental protection, while providing income for farmers and building resilient communities.”

Director General Müller added that “UNIDO and UNODC are united by a shared mission of a more just world, a more sustainable world, a more peaceful world, and today we are marking a new quality of cooperation, working together in new areas. Together we will also tackle the illicit flows of mercury and offer alternative solutions. We will also focus on conditions in the mining sector at large, which employs millions, but is also the source of huge amounts of suffering, corruption and exploitation. In the pharmaceutical sector we will ensure access to proper, regulated medical products, and we will provide vocational training, for example for people in prison, to create for them the opportunities for a new life. There are many areas where our work overlaps and we will bring a real benefit to people.”

Further areas of cooperation include joint programmes and projects on quality infrastructure and conformity assessment, as well as joint awareness-raising activities and capacity building programmes on cybercrime and cyberattacks.

Environmental issues will be at the forefront, with a focus on a formalization processes in the mining sector, including the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASGM) sector and trade in precious metals and minerals. Moreover, Environmental management, in particular the disposal of hazardous waste and chemicals, the use of mercury and other precursors and sustainable livelihoods, and climate change mitigation and adaptation will also be targeted.

The Group of 77 (G77) is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries within the United Nations, designed to promote its members’ collective economic interests and to create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity. The organization has expanded to 134 member countries.