2019 – Posted in: Daily News

UNITED NATION OFFICE OF DRUGS AND CRIME

For: Mains

Topics covered: Report on Homicide 2019 – Findings, UN Office on Drugs and Crime

News Flash

The Global Study on Homicide 2019 has been published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Objective

The Global Study on Homicide seeks to shed light on gender-related killings, lethal gang violence and other challenges, to support prevention and interventions to bring down homicide rates.

Findings of the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime

The overall number of people who suffered a violent death as a result of homicide increased in the past quarter of a century.
However, because the global population has risen faster than the increase in recorded homicide victims, the overall risk of being killed in homicides has declined steadily.
Asia recorded the lowest rate of homicide in 2017 with only 2.3 killings per 1,00,000 people.
Americas had the highest homicide rate (17.2).
Africa’s rate (13.0) was also above the global average.
The rates in Asia, Europe and Oceania were below the global average (2.3, 3.0 and 2.8 respectively).
In Central America, the country with the highest homicide rate (62.1) had a rate more than seven times that of the country with the lowest.
In South America, the country with the highest homicide rate (56.8) had a rate more than 16 times that of the country with the lowest.
About 4,64,000 people across the world were victims of homicidal violence in 2017, an increase from 395,542 in 1992.
The number of homicides in 2017 far surpassed the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts in the same period.
The global homicide rate, declined from 7.2 in 1992, to 6.1 in 2017.
The lowest regional rate of homicide in 2017 was reported in Asia, representing a rate of 2.3 per 100,000 population.
Asia accounted for 23% of total homicide victims worldwide. Asia accounts for 60% of the global population.
Organized crime alone was responsible for up to 19 per cent of all homicides in 2017.
Globally, some 81 per cent of homicide victims recorded in 2017 were men and boys.
More than 90 per cent of suspects in homicide cases were men.
Girls and boys aged nine and under are killed at roughly equal rates, in marked contrast to all other age groups, in which males make up more than 50 per cent of the victims, according to data from 41 countries.
In all regions, the likelihood of boys becoming victims of homicide increases with age.
Men aged between 15 and 29 are at the highest risk of homicide globally.
Although women and girls account for a far smaller share of victims of homicide.

Global homicide rate = measured as the victims of homicide per 1,00,000 people.

Drivers of Homicide

The drivers of homicide highlighted in the study include:

Inequality, Unemployment, Political instability, Prevalence of gender stereotypes in society, Presence of organized crime.

Way Forward

Countries have committed to targets under the Sustainable Development Goals to reduce all forms of violence and related death rates by 2030.
The study points to the importance of a governance model centred on the rule of law, control of corruption, and investment in socioeconomic development, including in education, as critical in bringing down the rate of violent crime.
Firearms and drugs and alcohol are further facilitators of homicide that need to be addressed.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime.
It was established in 1997 through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention.
UNODC operates in all regions of the world.
It relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from Governments.
UNODC is mandated to assist Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism.

The three pillars of the UNODC work programme are:

Field-based technical cooperation projects to enhance the capacity of Member States to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism
Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence base for policy and operational decisions
Normative work to assist States in the ratification and implementation of the relevant international treaties, the development of domestic legislation on drugs, crime and terrorism, and the provision of secretariat and substantive services to the treaty-based and governing bodies

Source: The Hindu and UNODC

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