Crime Prevention: A Comprehensive Approach, Schemes and Mind Maps of Criminal Justice

Download Crime Prevention: A Comprehensive Approach and more Schemes and Mind Maps Criminal Justice in PDF only on Docsity! United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention At your finger tips FOR A FUTURE WITHOUT FEAR "Crime Prevention comprises strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring, and their potential harmful effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence their multiple causes." 1 1 Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime, Economic and Social Council resolution 2002/13, Annex 2 United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention Preventing crime and strengthening criminal justice systems lies at the heart of the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and is a prerequisite for fighting transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption and terrorism. Within current UN-wide efforts to meet the millennium development goals, there is an increased role for standards and norms when addressing security sector reform and good governance. UNODC is the guardian of the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. 2 The standards and norms represent what Member States have agreed over the last decades are benchmarks to be achieved in crime prevention and criminal justice policies and strategies. They also provide a solid basis for programming in these areas. Two sets of crime prevention guidelines have been adopted by the Economic and Social Council, in 1995 and 2002. They are the Guidelines for Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the Field of Urban Crime Prevention3 and the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime.4 Together with more recent resolutions, they stress that crime prevention strategies must be established alongside criminal justice reform. In 2002, for example, the General Assembly, in its resolution 56/261, invited States, inter alia, to support the promotion of close cooperation between sectors such as justice, health, education and housing to support effective crime prevention and work with civil society. In its resolution 2005/22, the Economic and Social Council requested UNODC to pay due attention to crime prevention with a view to achieving a balanced approach between crime prevention and criminal justice responses. In resolution 2008/24, the Economic and Social Council, encouraged Member States, inter alia, to integrate crime prevention considerations into all relevant social and economic policies and programmes in order to effectively address the conditions in which crime and violence can emerge. The resolution also requested UNODC to explicitly address the crime prevention component in its programme of work and reporting, where relevant, including good practices that integrate crime prevention and criminal justice. 2 UNODC, Compendium of United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (New York, 2006) 3 Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/9, annex 4 Economic and Social Council resolution 2002/13, annex 5 (d) Prevent recidivism by assisting in the social reintegration of offenders and other preventive mechanisms (reintegration programmes). III. BASIC PRINCIPLES Government leadership 7. All levels of government should play a leadership role in developing effective and humane crime prevention strategies and in creating and maintaining institutional frameworks for their implementation and review. Socio-economic development and inclusion 8. Crime prevention considerations should be integrated into all relevant social and economic policies and programmes, including those addressing employment, education, health, housing and urban planning, poverty, social marginalization and exclusion. Particular emphasis should be placed on communities, families, children and youth at risk. Cooperation/partnerships 9. Cooperation/partnerships should be an integral part of effective crime prevention, given the wide- ranging nature of the causes of crime and the skills and responsibilities required to address them. This includes partnerships working across ministries and between authorities, community organizations, non- governmental organizations, the business sector and private citizens. Sustainability/accountability 10. Crime prevention requires adequate resources, including funding for structures and activities, in order to be sustained. There should be clear accountability for funding, implementation and evaluation and for the achievement of planned results. Knowledge base 11. Crime prevention strategies, policies, programmes and actions should be based on a broad, multidisciplinary foundation of knowledge about crime problems, their multiple causes and promising and proven practices. Human rights/rule of law/culture of lawfulness 12. The rule of law and those human rights which are recognized in international instruments to which Member States are parties must be respected in all aspects of crime prevention. A culture of lawfulness should be actively promoted in crime prevention. Interdependency 13. National crime prevention diagnoses and strategies should, where appropriate, take account of links between local criminal problems and international organized crime. 6 Differentiation 14. Crime prevention strategies should, when appropriate, pay due regard to the different needs of men and women and consider the special needs of vulnerable members of society. IV. ORGANIZATION, METHODS AND APPROACHES 15. Recognizing that all States have unique governmental structures, this section sets out tools and methodologies that Governments and all segments of civil society should consider in developing strategies to prevent crime and reduce victimization. It draws on international good practice. Community involvement 16. In some of the areas listed below, Governments bear the primary responsibility. However, the active participation of communities and other segments of civil society is an essential part of effective crime prevention. Communities, in particular, should play an important part in identifying crime prevention priorities, in implementation and evaluation, and in helping to identify a sustainable resource base. A. Organization Government structures 17. Governments should include prevention as a permanent part of their structures and programmes for controlling crime, ensuring that clear responsibilities and goals exist within government for the organization of crime prevention, by, inter alia: (a) Establishing centres or focal points with expertise and resources; (b) Establishing a crime prevention plan with clear priorities and targets; (c) Establishing linkages and coordination between relevant government agencies or departments; (d) Fostering partnerships with non-governmental organizations, the business, private and professional sectors and the community; (e) Seeking the active participation of the public in crime prevention by informing it of the need for and means of action and its role. Training and capacity-building 18. Governments should support the development of crime prevention skills by: (a) Providing professional development for senior officials in relevant agencies; (b) Encouraging universities, colleges and other relevant educational agencies to offer basic and advanced courses, including in collaboration with practitioners; 7 (c) Working with the educational and professional sectors to develop certification and professional qualifications; (d) Promoting the capacity of communities to develop and respond to their needs. Supporting partnerships 19. Governments and all segments of civil society should support the principle of partnership, where appropriate, including: a) Advancing knowledge of the importance of this principle and the components of successful partnerships, including the need for all of the partners to have clear and transparent roles; (b) Fostering the formation of partnerships at different levels and across sectors; (c) Facilitating the efficient operation of partnerships. Sustainability 20. Governments and other funding bodies should strive to achieve sustainability of demonstrably effective crime prevention programmes and initiatives through, inter alia: (a) Reviewing resource allocation to establish and maintain an appropriate balance between crime prevention and the criminal justice and other systems, to be more effective in preventing crime and victimization; (b) Establishing clear accountability for funding, programming and coordinating crime prevention initiatives; (c) Encouraging community involvement in sustainability. B. Methods Knowledge base 21. As appropriate, Governments and/or civil society should facilitate knowledge-based crime prevention by, inter alia: (a) Providing the information necessary for communities to address crime problems; (b) Supporting the generation of useful and practically applicable knowledge that is scientifically reliable and valid; (c) Supporting the organization and synthesis of knowledge and identifying and addressing gaps in the knowledge base; (d) Sharing that knowledge, as appropriate, among, inter alia, researchers, policy makers, educators, practitioners from other relevant sectors and the wider community; 10 V. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Standards and norms 28. In promoting international action in crime prevention, Member States are invited to take into account the main international instruments related to human rights and crime prevention to which they are parties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex), the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (General Assembly resolution 48/104), the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines) (General Assembly resolution 45/112, annex), the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (General Assembly resolution 40/34, annex), the guidelines for cooperation and technical assistance in the field of urban crime prevention (resolution 1995/9, annex), as well as the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century (General Assembly resolution 55/59, annex) and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto (General Assembly resolution 55/25, annexes I-III, and resolution 55/255, annex). Technical assistance 29. Member States and relevant international funding organizations should provide financial and technical assistance, including capacity building and training, to developing countries and countries with economies in transition, communities and other relevant organizations for the implementation of effective crime prevention and community safety strategies at the regional, national and local levels. In that context, special attention should be given to research and action on crime prevention through social development. Networking 30. Member States should strengthen or establish international, regional and national crime prevention networks with a view to exchanging proven and promising practices, identifying elements of their transferability and making such knowledge available to communities throughout the world. Links between transnational and local crime 31. Member States should collaborate to analyse and address the links between transnational organized crime and national and local crime problems. Prioritizing crime prevention 32. The Centre for International Crime Prevention of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention of the Secretariat, the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme network of affiliated and associated institutes and other relevant United Nations entities should include in their priorities crime prevention as set out in these Guidelines, set up a coordination mechanism and establish a roster of experts to undertake needs assessment and to provide technical advice. Dissemination 33. Relevant United Nations bodies and other organizations should cooperate to produce crime prevention information in as many languages as possible, using both print and electronic media 11 United Nations Guidelines for Cooperation and Technical Assistance in the field of Urban Crime Prevention Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/9, Annex A. Design and implementation of cooperation and assistance activities 1. Cooperation projects for urban crime prevention should take account of the principles set out below. 1. Local approach to problems 2. Urban crime is characterized by a multiplicity of factors and forms. A multi-agency approach and a coordinated response at the local level, in accordance with an integrated crime prevention action plan, will often be helpful. This should involve: (a) A local diagnostic survey of crime phenomena, their characteristics, factors leading to them, the form they take and their extent; (b) The identification of all the relevant actors that could take part in compiling the above- mentioned diagnostic survey in crime prevention as well as in the fight against crime, for example public institutions (national or local), local elected officials, the private sector (associations, enterprises), the voluntary sector, community representatives etc.; (c) The establishment, wherever appropriate, of consultation mechanisms promoting closer liaison, the exchange of information, joint work and the design of a coherent strategy; (d) The elaboration of possible solutions to these problems in the local context. 2. Integrated crime prevention action plan 3. The authors of an integrated crime prevention action plan, in order for it to be comprehensive and efficient, should: (a) Define: (i) The nature and types of crime problems to be tackled, such as theft, robbery, burglary, racial attacks, drug related crimes, juvenile delinquency and illegal possession of firearms, taking into account all the factors that may directly or indirectly cause such problems or contribute to them; (ii) The objectives being pursued and the time by which they should be attained; (iii) The action envisaged and the respective responsibilities of those involved vis-a`-vis the implementation of the plan (for example, whether local or national resources are to be mobilized); 12 (b) Consider involving a range of actors representing in particular: (i) Social workers and education, housing and health workers, in addition to the police, the courts, public prosecutors and probation services etc.; (ii) The community: elected officials, associations, volunteers, parents, victims' organizations etc.; (iii) The economic sector: enterprises, banks, business, public transport etc.; (iv) The media; (c) Consider the relevance to the crime prevention action plan of such factors as: (i) Relationships in the family, between generations or between social groups etc.; (ii) Education, religious, moral and civic values, culture etc.; (iii) Employment, training, measures for combating unemployment and poverty; (iv) Housing and urbanism; (v) Health, drug and alcohol abuse; (vi) Government and community welfare aid for the least fortunate members of society; (vii) Combating the culture of violence and intolerance; (d) Consider providing for action at various levels: (i) Primary prevention: a. By promoting situational criminal prevention measures, such as target hardening and opportunity reduction; b. By promoting welfare and health development and progress and by combating all forms of social deprivation; c. By promoting communal values and respect for fundamental human rights; d. By promoting civic responsibility and social mediation procedures; e. By facilitating the adaptation of the working methods of the police and the courts; (ii) Prevention of recidivism: 15 United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (The Riyadh Guidelines) General Assembly resolution 45/112, Annex I. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 1. The prevention of juvenile delinquency is an essential part of crime prevention in society. By engaging in lawful, socially useful activities and adopting a humanistic orientation towards society and outlook on life, young persons can develop non-criminogenic attitudes. 2. The successful prevention of juvenile delinquency requires efforts on the part of the entire society to ensure the harmonious development of adolescents, with respect for and promotion of their personality from early childhood. 3. For the purposes of the interpretation of the present Guidelines, a child-centred orientation should be pursued. Young persons should have an active role and partnership within society and should not be considered as mere objects of socialization or control. 4. In the implementation of the present Guidelines, in accordance with national legal systems, the well- being of young persons from their early childhood should be the focus of any preventive programme. 5. The need for and importance of progressive delinquency prevention policies and the systematic study and the elaboration of measures should be recognized. These should avoid criminalizing and penalizing a child for behaviour that does not cause serious damage to the development of the child or harm to others. Such policies and measures should involve: (a) The provision of opportunities, in particular educational opportunities, to meet the varying needs of young persons and to serve as a supportive framework for safeguarding the personal development of all young persons, particularly those who are demonstrably endangered or at social risk and are in need of special care and protection; (b) Specialized philosophies and approaches for delinquency prevention, on the basis of laws, processes, institutions, facilities and a service delivery network aimed at reducing the motivation, need and opportunity for, or conditions giving rise to, the commission of infractions; (c) Official intervention to be pursued primarily in the overall interest of the young person and guided by fairness and equity; (d) Safeguarding the well-being, development, rights and interests of all young persons; (e) Consideration that youthful behaviour or conduct that does not conform to overall social norms and values is often part of the maturation and growth process and tends to disappear spontaneously in most individuals with the transition to adulthood; 16 (f) Awareness that, in the predominant opinion of experts, labelling a young person as "deviant", "delinquent" or "pre-delinquent" often contributes to the development of a consistent pattern of undesirable behaviour by young persons. 6. Community-based services and programmes should be developed for the prevention of juvenile delinquency, particularly where no agencies have yet been established. Formal agencies of social control should only be utilized as a means of last resort. II. SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINES 7. The present Guidelines should be interpreted and implemented within the broad framework of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in the context of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules), as well as other instruments and norms relating to the rights, interests and well-being of all children and young persons. 8. The present Guidelines should also be implemented in the context of the economic, social and cultural conditions prevailing in each Member State. III. GENERAL PREVENTION 9. Comprehensive prevention plans should be instituted at every level of government and include the following: (a) In-depth analyses of the problem and inventories of programmes, services, facilities and resources available; (b) Well-defined responsibilities for the qualified agencies, institutions and personnel involved in preventive efforts; (c) Mechanisms for the appropriate co-ordination of prevention efforts between governmental and non-governmental agencies; (d) Policies, programmes and strategies based on prognostic studies to be continuously monitored and carefully evaluated in the course of implementation; (e) Methods for effectively reducing the opportunity to commit delinquent acts; (f) Community involvement through a wide range of services and programmes; (g) Close interdisciplinary co-operation between national, state, provincial and local governments, with the involvement of the private sector, representative citizens of the community to be served, and labour, child-care, health education, social, law enforcement and judicial agencies in taking concerted action to prevent juvenile delinquency and youth crime; (h) Youth participation in delinquency prevention policies and processes, including recourse to community resources, youth self-help, and victim compensation and assistance programmes; 17 (i) Specialized personnel at all levels. IV. SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES 10. Emphasis should be placed on preventive policies facilitating the successful socialization and integration of all children and young persons, in particular through the family, the community, peer groups, schools, vocational training and the world of work, as well as through voluntary organizations. Due respect should be given to the proper personal development of children and young persons, and they should be accepted as full and equal partners in socialization and integration processes. A. Family 11. Every society should place a high priority on the needs and well-being of the family and of all its members. 12. Since the family is the central unit responsible for the primary socialization of children, governmental and social efforts to preserve the integrity of the family, including the extended family, should be pursued. The society has a responsibility to assist the family in providing care and protection and in ensuring the physical and mental well-being of children. Adequate arrangements including day-care should be provided. 13. Governments should establish policies that are conducive to the bringing up of children in stable and settled family environments. Families in need of assistance in the resolution of conditions of instability or conflict should be provided with requisite services. 14. Where a stable and settled family environment is lacking and when community efforts to assist parents in this regard have failed and the extended family cannot fulfil this role, alternative placements, including foster care and adoption, should be considered. Such placements should replicate, to the extent possible, a stable and settled family environment, while, at the same time, establishing a sense of permanency for children, thus avoiding problems associated with "foster drift". 15. Special attention should be given to children of families affected by problems brought about by rapid and uneven economic, social and cultural change, in particular the children of indigenous, migrant and refugee families. As such changes may disrupt the social capacity of the family to secure the traditional rearing and nurturing of children, often as a result of role and culture conflict, innovative and socially constructive modalities for the socialization of children have to be designed. 16. Measures should be taken and programmes developed to provide families with the opportunity to learn about parental roles and obligations as regards child development and child care, promoting positive parent-child relationships, sensitizing parents to the problems of children and young persons and encouraging their involvement in family and community-based activities. 17. Governments should take measures to promote family cohesion and harmony and to discourage the separation of children from their parents, unless circumstances affecting the welfare and future of the child leave no viable alternative. 18. It is important to emphasize the socialization function of the family and extended family; it is also equally important to recognize the future role, responsibilities, participation and partnership of young persons in society. 20 collective and voluntary projects, particularly projects aimed at helping young persons in need of assistance. 38. Government agencies should take special responsibility and provide necessary services for homeless or street children; information about local facilities, accommodation, employment and other forms and sources of help should be made readily available to young persons. 39. A wide range of recreational facilities and services of particular interest to young persons should be established and made easily accessible to them. D. Mass media 40. The mass media should be encouraged to ensure that young persons have access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources. 41. The mass media should be encouraged to portray the positive contribution of young persons to society. 42. The mass media should be encouraged to disseminate information on the existence of services, facilities and opportunities for young persons in society. 43. The mass media generally, and the television and film media in particular, should be encouraged to minimize the level of pornography, drugs and violence portrayed and to display violence and exploitation disfavourably, as well as to avoid demeaning and degrading presentations, especially of children, women and interpersonal relations, and to promote egalitarian principles and roles. 44. The mass media should be aware of its extensive social role and responsibility, as well as its influence, in communications relating to youthful drug and alcohol abuse. It should use its power for drug abuse prevention by relaying consistent messages through a balanced approach. Effective drug awareness campaigns at all levels should be promoted. V. SOCIAL POLICY 45. Government agencies should give high priority to plans and programmes for young persons and should provide sufficient funds and other resources for the effective delivery of services, facilities and staff for adequate medical and mental health care, nutrition, housing and other relevant services, including drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment, ensuring that such resources reach and actually benefit young persons. 46. The institutionalization of young persons should be a measure of last resort and for the minimum necessary period, and the best interests of the young person should be of paramount importance. Criteria authorizing formal intervention of this type should be strictly defined and limited to the following situations: a) where the child or young person has suffered harm that has been inflicted by the parents or guardians; b) where the child or young person has been sexually, physically or emotionally abused by the parents or guardians; (c) where the child or young person has been neglected, abandoned or exploited by the parents or guardians; (d) where the child or young person is threatened by physical or moral danger due to the behaviour of the parents or guardians; and (e) where a serious physical or psychological danger to the child or young person has manifested itself in his or her own behaviour and neither the parents, the guardians, the juvenile himself or herself nor non-residential community services can meet the danger by means other than institutionalization. 21 47. Government agencies should provide young persons with the opportunity of continuing in full-time education, funded by the State where parents or guardians are unable to support the young persons, and of receiving work experience. 48. Programmes to prevent delinquency should be planned and developed on the basis of reliable, scientific research findings, and periodically monitored, evaluated and adjusted accordingly. 49. Scientific information should be disseminated to the professional community and to the public at large about the sort of behaviour or situation which indicates or may result in physical and psychological victimization, harm and abuse, as well as exploitation, of young persons. 50. Generally, participation in plans and programmes should be voluntary. Young persons themselves should be involved in their formulation, development and implementation. 51. Governments should begin or continue to explore, develop and implement policies, measures and strategies within and outside the criminal justice system to prevent domestic violence against and affecting young persons and to ensure fair treatment to these victims of domestic violence. VI. LEGISLATION AND JUVENILE JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION 52. Governments should enact and enforce specific laws and procedures to promote and protect the rights and well-being of all young persons. 53. Legislation preventing the victimization, abuse, exploitation and the use for criminal activities of children and young persons should be enacted and enforced. 54. No child or young person should be subjected to harsh or degrading correction or punishment measures at home, in schools or in any other institutions. 55. Legislation and enforcement aimed at restricting and controlling accessibility of weapons of any sort to children and young persons should be pursued. 56. In order to prevent further stigmatization, victimization and criminalization of young persons, legislation should be enacted to ensure that any conduct not considered an offence or not penalized if committed by an adult is not considered an offence and not penalized if committed by a young person. 57. Consideration should be given to the establishment of an office of ombudsman or similar independent organ, which would ensure that the status, rights and interests of young persons are upheld and that proper referral to available services is made. The ombudsman or other organ designated would also supervise the implementation of the Riyadh Guidelines, the Beijing Rules and the Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. The ombudsman or other organ would, at regular intervals, publish a report on the progress made and on the difficulties encountered in the implementation of the instrument. Child advocacy services should also be established. 58. Law enforcement and other relevant personnel, of both sexes, should be trained to respond to the special needs of young persons and should be familiar with and use, to the maximum extent possible, programmes and referral possibilities for the diversion of young persons from the justice system. 22 59. Legislation should be enacted and strictly enforced to protect children and young persons from drug abuse and drug traffickers. VII. RESEARCH, POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND CO-ORDINATION 60. Efforts should be made and appropriate mechanisms established to promote, on both a multidisciplinary and an intradisciplinary basis, interaction and co-ordination between economic, social, educational and health agencies and services, the justice system, youth, community and development agencies and other relevant institutions. 61. The exchange of information, experience and expertise gained through projects, programmes, practices and initiatives relating to youth crime, delinquency prevention and juvenile justice should be intensified at the national, regional and international levels. 62. Regional and international co-operation on matters of youth crime, delinquency prevention and juvenile justice involving practitioners, experts and decision makers should be further developed and strengthened. 63. Technical and scientific co-operation on practical and policy-related matters, particularly in training, pilot and demonstration projects, and on specific issues concerning the prevention of youth crime and juvenile delinquency should be strongly supported by all Governments, the United Nations system and other concerned organizations. 64. Collaboration should be encouraged in undertaking scientific research with respect to effective modalities for youth crime and juvenile delinquency prevention and the findings of such research should be widely disseminated and evaluated. 65. Appropriate United Nations bodies, institutes, agencies and offices should pursue close collaboration and co-ordination on various questions related to children, juvenile justice and youth crime and juvenile delinquency prevention. 66. On the basis of the present Guidelines, the United Nations Secretariat, in co-operation with interested institutions, should play an active role in the conduct of research, scientific collaboration, the formulation of policy options and the review and monitoring of their implementation, and should serve as a source of reliable information on effective modalities for delinquency prevention. 25 Strengthening prevention of urban crime: an integrated approach Economic and Social Council resolution 2008/24 The Economic and Social Council, Recalling General Assembly resolution 62/175 of 18 December 2007 on strengthening the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its technical cooperation capacity, in which the Assembly reaffirmed the importance of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme in promoting effective action to strengthen international cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice, as well as of the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the fulfilment of its mandate in crime prevention and criminal justice, including providing to Member States, upon request and as a matter of high priority, technical cooperation, advisory services and other forms of assistance, and coordinating with and complementing the work of all relevant and competent United Nations bodies and offices, and recalling also that, in that resolution, the Assembly drew attention to urban crime as an emerging policy issue, Recalling also its resolution 2007/12 of 25 July 2007 on the strategy for the period 2008-2011 for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in which community-centred crime prevention was designated a result area, Mindful of its resolution 1995/9 of 24 July 1995, in which it adopted guidelines for cooperation and technical assistance in the field of urban crime prevention, as contained in the annex to that resolution, and its resolution 2002/13 of 24 July 2002, in which it accepted the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime contained in the annex to that resolution, Recalling its resolutions 2005/22 of 22 July 2005 on action to promote effective crime prevention and 2006/20 of 27 July 2006 on United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention, in which it acknowledged the need to achieve a balanced approach between crime prevention and criminal justice responses, Considering that the fight against crime can effectively reach its objectives through a combination of national policies on criminal justice and crime prevention to address the causes of crime and violence, bearing in mind that allocating resources to crime prevention can greatly reduce the financial and social costs of crime, Recognizing the importance of the engagement between civil society and law enforcement authorities in the planning and implementation of crime prevention activities, Recalling the commitments made by the international community in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, in particular regarding the fight against crime and the objective of making the right to development a reality for everyone, 1. Encourages Member States to adopt and strengthen, as appropriate, effective urban crime prevention responses, with a view to achieving an appropriate balance with criminal justice actions; 26 2. Also encourages Member States to integrate crime prevention considerations into all relevant social and economic policies and programmes in order to effectively address the conditions in which crime and violence can emerge; 3. Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to explicitly address the crime prevention component in its programme of work and reporting, where relevant, including good practices that integrate crime prevention and criminal justice; 4. Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary contributions to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to support technical assistance activities in this area, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations. 42nd plenary meeting 24 July 2008 27 Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies for Global Challenges: Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Systems and Their Development in a Changing World Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Salvador, Brazil, 12-19 April 2010 Excerpts of the Declaration dealing with crime prevention: 32. We are convinced of the need to accelerate efforts to fully implement the United Nations guidelines on crime prevention and the prevention components of existing conventions and other relevant international standards and norms. 33. We recognize that the development and adoption of crime prevention policies and their monitoring and evaluation are the responsibility of States. We believe that such efforts should be based on a participatory, collaborative and integrated approach that includes all relevant stakeholders including those from civil society. 34. We recognize the importance of strengthening public-private partnerships in preventing and countering crime in all its forms and manifestations. We are convinced that through the mutual and effective sharing of information, knowledge and experience and through joint and coordinated actions, Governments and businesses can develop, improve and implement measures to prevent, prosecute and punish crime, including emerging and changing challenges. 35. We stress the need for all States to have national and local action plans for crime prevention that take into account, inter alia, factors that place certain populations and places at higher risk of victimization and/or offending in a comprehensive, integrated and participatory manner, and for such plans to be based on the best available evidence and good practices. We stress that crime prevention should be considered an integral element of strategies to foster social and economic development in all States. 45. We are concerned by urban crime and its impact on specific populations and places. We therefore recommend stronger coordination between security and social policies, with a view to addressing some of the root causes of urban violence. 46. We recognize that specific groups are particularly vulnerable to situations of urban crime, and we therefore recommend the adoption and implementation of civic intercultural programmes, where appropriate, aimed at combating racism and xenophobia, reducing the exclusion of minorities and migrants and thus promoting community cohesion. 51. We stress the need to reinforce alternatives to imprisonment, which may include community service, restorative justice and electronic monitoring and support rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, including those to correct offending behaviour, and educational and vocational programmes for prisoners.