EU Statement to welcome the new Executive Director of UNODC and Director General of UNOV Monika Juma to Vienna

On behalf of the European Union and its Member States, I have the honour and pleasure to warmly welcome the new Executive Director of UNODC and Director General of UNOV Monika Juma to Vienna.

The European Union and its Member States are strong supporters and reliable partners of UNODC. In the period 2016-2024, we together provided close to 1 Billion US dollars in funding. This reflects our appreciation of UNODC’s work and the growing importance of the issues within UNODC’s mandate.

We look forward to working closely with you to continue strengthening international cooperation in the fight against transnational organised crime, corruption and terrorism, and in dealing with the world drug issue. UNODC has become an indispensable international platform for professionals and policy makers. The new Convention against Cybercrime shows that the UNODC’s important normative work can deliver results even in these difficult times.

We look forward to engaging with you on the reform agenda in light of the Secretary General’s UN80 initiative and on the issues that concern UNODC specifically. We all want to see a stronger, more effective UNODC and we stand ready to work with you and all Member States to achieve this.

The European Union and its Member States are determined to remain strong and reliable partners of UNODC. Only with effective multilateralism and a rules-based international order will we be able to safeguard the security and well-being of our citizens, and the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Count on us to stand with you and UNODC.

I thank you.