Organised crime presents a manifold threat to sustainable development. This is recognised by the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063. However, policy statements which recognise the cross-cutting threat of organised crime have not been translated to the implementation framework in a systematic way, and policy tends to focus on the fight against organised crime at the sectoral level. Development actors need to understand not only how organised crime will undermine their objectives, but also that development itself presents opportunities for organised crime to flourish. As Africa focuses on stimulating economic growth, investment and infrastructure, the danger is that development goals will be subverted. Development actors need to both crime-proof existing interventions and ensure future investments are crime sensitive.
About the authors
Tuesday Reitano is the Deputy Director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime. She previously worked for 10 years at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the UN Development Programme, in particular focusing on issues of governance, justice and conflict transition.
Marcena Hunter is a Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, where she specialises on illicit flows from and through Africa.
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