15th UN Crime Congress: Pre-Congress consultations – 25 September 2026

be adopted. I don't see any objections. Thank you. Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. In its resolution 56/119 of 19 December 2001, the General Assembly decided that each Crime Congress should include one session of pre-congress consultations, a decision reiterated by the Assembly in its resolutions related to the preparations for the 15th Congress which is resolution 778223 and 79186 and 80/225 the purpose of the pre-congress consultations is to reach agreement on recommendations to be made on all procedural and organizational matters to be dealt with by the Congress at its opening meeting these include amongst others the election of the President of the Congress and other officers, the composition of the General Committee, the allocation of agenda items, the adoption of the Rules of Procedure, the adoption of the agenda and organization of work, including the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, the appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee, and the preparation of the report of the 15th Congress. And I wish to invite you to consider each of the organizational issues. The outcome of today's meeting may be included in a report, which will be available at the opening session tomorrow morning. I hope this is agreeable. I see no objections. Thank you. And we come to the election of the President of the Congress. On the election of the President of the Congress, I understand that there is a general agreement among all delegations to recommend to the Congress that it elects by acclamation His Excellency Abdullah bin Sultane bin Awad Al-Na'imi, Minister of Justice of the United Arab Emirates, as President of the Congress. This recommendation will therefore be included in the report of the pre-congress consultations. Is this agreeable? I see no objections. Thank you. And as to the election of officers other than the President and arrangements for the high-level segment. As you know, the General Committee of the Congress will be composed of 28 officers to be elected by the Congress under Rule 6 of the Rules of Procedure, on the basis of equitable geographical distribution. The Presidency will not be counted for the purpose of regional distribution. The Secretariat has been informed of the following nominations by the regional groups for the General Committee of the Congress for the core functions. For the position of First Vice-President, from the Group of Eastern European States, Her Excellency Mrs. Sorbuhi Gailan, Minister of Justice of Armenia. For the position of the Rapporteur General from the African Group, Her Excellency Matilda Aku-Allumatu Osei-Agyeman, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations in Vienna. For the position of Chair of Committee I from the Western European and Others Group, myself, For the position of Chair of Committee II, from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, His Excellency Mr. Jose Antonio Sabagota Trejo, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in Vienna. In addition, for the position of Vice-President, from the Group of African States, representatives from Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. From the group of Asia-Pacific states, representatives from India, Japan, Jordan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines. From the group of Eastern European states, there have been no nominations received. From the group of Latin American and Caribbean states, representatives from the Dominican Republic and Peru. From the group of Western European and other states, the Secretariat received yesterday communication from the VEOC Chair that there would be no nominations put forward. I hope these nominations are equitable. Thank you. Now to the adoption of the Rules of Procedure. I'd like to invite participants in the meeting today to recommend that the Congress adopt the provisional rules of procedure as contained in document A/CONF.241/2, as agreed read by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The rules will be interpreted bearing in mind the specific circumstances of the 15th Crime Congress, with a view to allowing practical solutions to the challenges posed by budgetary constraints due to liquidity crisis. None of these practical solutions shall constitute a precedent for future Congresses. Is this agreeable to everybody? Thank you. Now, the adoption of the agenda. Let me now turn to the revised provisional agenda as set out in document A/CONF.241/1/Rev.1. I think we can agree to recommend that the Congress adopts the provisional agenda, which was approved by the General Assembly at its 70th session. 8th session, which is resolution 78223, and they are the operative paragraph 11. I hope this is also agreeable to everybody. Thank you. As to the allocation of items, as indicated in the proposed organization of work for the 15th Congress, I would suggest that the pre-congress consultations recommend that items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the provisional agenda, as well as the high-level segment, be held in plenary, and that workshops 1 and 3 be allocated to committee 1, and that workshops 2 and 4 be allocated to committee 2 for consideration. I hope this is agreeable. Thank you. The plenary proceedings will take place in the plenary hall, and the meetings of Committee I and Committee II will happen in Committees Hall, which is Hall A, the one we are in at the moment. Further organizational arrangements, I wish to recall that interpretation services in all official languages are available for today's pre-congress consultations. as well as the plenary proceedings, including all high-level segment thematic meetings. Due to budgetary constraints, committee meetings will have to be held without interpretation. This has been reflected in the organizational arrangements for the 15th Crime Congress, as agreed by the CCPCJ on the 5th of August 2026, via silence procedure and reflected in conference room paper A/CONF.241/CRP.4. Allow me to emphasize that these arrangements are exceptional and time-bound, and that they are a direct consequence of the financial constraints affecting the provision of conference services across the UN Secretariat. and that they constitute no precedent for future Congresses, and that they are without prejudice to the application of Rule 49 of the Rules of Procedure for the UN Crime Congresses, with the Congress reaffirming its commitment to multilingualism. Can we recommend to the Congress to endorse the organizational arrangements as agreed by the CCPCJ? Thank you. I see no objections. Then it's decided. Now, further to the organization of work, participants in the pre-congress consultations may wish to recommend that the Congress approves the proposed organization of work for the 15th Congress as set out in the annex to document A/CONF.241/1/Rev.1. on the understanding that any adjustments that might be necessary would be made during the Congress proceedings. Meeting times will be as follows. On the first day of the Congress, Saturday, the 26th of September, the plenary will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m. Committee 1 will meet from 3 to 6 p.m. On the second day of the Congress, Sunday, the 25th of September, the plenary will meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m. The committees will meet from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to of the Congress, Monday 28th of September through Thursday 1st of October, will be as follows: two meetings of the plenary and committees will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. In addition to the proceedings in plenary and committees, a number of high-level segment thematic meetings and ancillary meetings are scheduled to take place during the Crime Congress. The programmes are available in the journal, which contains also information on the fireside chats with the private sector, exhibitions, and on the hubs of the institutions belonging to the Programme Network on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the PNIs, of the NGOs and of the youth. Allow me now to turn to the arrangements for the opening and the high-level segment. The procedural part of the opening will start at 9:30 sharp. All delegations are kindly requested to be seated by latest 9:15 a.m., please. And the agenda items, one, opening of the Congress, and two, organizational matters, will be considered during the procedural part. The procedural part will be followed by the ceremonial opening, 25 a.m. The ceremonial opening will include a handover ceremony with His Excellency, Mr. Takashi Yamashita, Minister of Justice of Japan, which held the presidency of the 14th UN Crime Congress. An opening statement will be delivered by His Excellency Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice of the United Arab Emirates, on behalf of the host country. We will then hear a video message by Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. followed by the opening statement by Mrs. Monica Juma, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Subsequently, the high-level segment will be opened by the President, who will invite the Congress to adopt the Abu Dhabi Declaration of the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Following an extensive negotiation process, which started in Vienna in September 2025. His Excellency Judge Abdurrahman Murad Al Blushi, Chairperson of the UAE National Organizing Committee for the 15th Crime Congress, transmitted on the 7th of July the text entitled Abu Dhabi Declaration of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. as contained in document A/CONF.241/L.1 for adoption of the opening of the high-level segment tomorrow morning. Allow me once again to express my gratitude to His Excellency Judge Albushi for his unwavering dedication and leadership throughout the negotiations and congratulate the host country and all delegations involved in the finalization of the Abu Dhabi Declaration. I count on the support of all delegations to make sure that the text can be adopted by acclamation. Should any delegation wishing to make a substantive statement related to the Abu Dhabi Declaration, the possibility will be provided at the end of the procedural opening ahead of the formal adoption of the text at the opening of the high-level segment later in the morning. May I kindly ask if any delegation is intending to make a statement related to the Abu Dhabi Declaration so that we can plan accordingly. I see Japan, you have the floor.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Chair, for this outstanding leadership, which brought all of us to this moment. And also, I appreciate very much the very dedicated work done by the Secretariat. And of course, my appreciation goes to the UAE presidency for preparing this. I just want to register that Japan is intending to deliver explanation of position on the declaration on the assumption that we are happy to join the consensual adoption at a later stage. That's my registration for my intention. Thank you very much for the attention. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there other countries planning to make a substantive statement on the Abu Dhabi Declaration? With substantive, I mean not purely congratulatory remarks, but substantive statements. Congratulatory remarks can, of course, be also part of the national statements that follow later. I see Argentina, you have the floor, please.

Thank you, Chair. Argentina would like to take the floor and to make a declaration on the Abu Dhabi Declaration on substantive issues. Thank you.

Thank you. So also Argentina will make a substantive statement. Any other countries that will make statements? Argentinians, you wanted to add something?

Mr. Chair, it's from Iran, not Argentina. If you are looking at this side, I'm not sure whether Argentina is behind me or not.

Sorry, we didn't see your placard.

Sorry for the confusion.

It's, of course, Iran.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to ask whether if you have some observation regarding this declaration. Is it the time now to deliver our statement, or it would be tomorrow morning?

Yes, of course. This is for tomorrow morning. Today, we are just collecting the countries who are willing to for planning purposes who would take up the floor tomorrow.

So I would be appreciated if the secretariat enroll our name as countries who is going to be willing to delivering their statement regarding the declaration?

Thank you. It will register that it will then happen at the end of the opening part. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. the end of the procedural part, as I said a minute ago. Any other countries that plan to make a statement on the Abu Dhabi Declaration? I see Egypt, you have the floor, please.

Thank you so much, Chair. We are not going to do a statement, just to get a clarification on the procedure, because it is not very clear for some. If you look at the agenda that we have in front of us, We have a video message by Ms. Amina Mohammed, and then to be followed by opening statement by Dr. Monica Juma. So after that, this is the time that you expect those who want to mention something on the declaration, because after that, you have the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration. Just to avoid the confusion, and to be very clear for parties or member states who want to deliver a statement substantive, as you mentioned, what exactly would this happen rather than getting like a conflicting message. Thank you.

I will also give the floor to the secretariat to explain further details.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and through you also thank you very much to the distinguished ambassador of Egypt, because it's indeed very important to have clarity on this. Now, the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration will happen during the ceremonial part, where also all the dignitaries are in the room, and for that, the high-level segment will be opened in that part. So, that will be the last item of the middle part. As we are suggesting, and that is also in a way what we have been suggesting before, as this part is with all the dignitaries in the room and is meant to be a ceremonial part, the proposal is that anybody who wants to make a substantive statement that will be reflected in the report as clearly related to the Abu Dhabi declaration is kindly asked to do it at the end of the first part, before we have the dignitaries coming in the room. I just want to, in a way, also reassure that in the report, it will be made very clear that the statements are related to the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration. It's just because it's for the ceremonial segment We want to have this also as a moment of celebration, also in respect and in honor of our host country. We would kindly, as suggested by the chair of the preparatory body and the pre-congress consultations, do that at the end of the first part. So this would be consideration of the report of the pre-congress consultations, it would be right there. With that, through you, Mr. Chair, clarify the... Thank you.

Thank you to the Secretariat. Any further questions on this step-by-step? approach. You see it also on the slide. I see no further requests for the floor. Then let me proceed. Following the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, there will be a short suspension to allow the high-level guests to leave the room, after which the high-level segment will be resumed. The high-level segment will allow heads of delegation to make a substantive statement in accordance with the GA resolution 79186. Before that, we will hear a video message by His Excellency Mr. Amar Ben Jemaa, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, in his capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council. Subsequently, the representatives of the Youth Forum will present the outcome of their forum to the Congress, which took place yesterday, 24th of September and will conclude this afternoon. Speakers representing G77 and China, the African group and the Asia Pacific group and European Union will then address the high level debate first. Chairs of these established regional groups are kindly reminded to limit their statements to five to maximum seven minutes. All other speakers speaking in their national capacity are kindly reminded to limit their statements to a maximum of 3 to 5 minutes the list of speakers for the high level segment was established by drawing of lots at an intercessional meeting of the commission on crime prevention criminal justice held on the 2nd September of 2026 taking into account the rank of the head of delegation of each state requesting the floor In case there are any member states which are not yet included into the list of speakers, they can contact the secretariat until tomorrow, 26th of September, 2 p.m., after which the list of speakers for the high-level segment will be closed. Is this agreeable? Thank you. Now to the pledge for justice. I would now like to draw your attention to the pledge for justice initiative, which will be one of the special features of the high level segment of the 15th Congress. The initiative is intended to provide a visible platform for member states to make concrete time bound commitments to advance crime prevention, criminal justice and thereby help translate the political commitments of the Congress into practical action beyond Abu Dhabi. Pledges may take different forms. They may concern national, regional or international initiatives, new or strengthened partnerships and cooperation, capacity building and technical assistance or financial and other resource commitments. During the high-level debate, Member States that have submitted a pledge in advance will announce the pledge as part of their national statement. The pledge should therefore be incorporated at the end of the intervention of the respective delegation and will form part of the allocated speaking time. The Secretariat has been working together with the UAE counterparts on a dedicated visual and interactive element in the plenary plenary hall to accompany the pledges and give the initiative a recognizable identity throughout the high-level segment. Now, I give the floor to the Secretary to provide further information.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, also for providing me with the opportunity to provide some additional information, which was also shared via special message a couple of days ago, and we are also very pleased to see that we have meanwhile over 40 countries which are planning to participate in the initiative and to intergovernmental organizations. And as shown on the screen, so the first step would be that when delegation reaches the pledge in the national statement, that then the speaker will look towards the photographer and touch the activation device next to the lectern. Then immediately after delegate has touched the activation device, a tick will appear on the device screen. to confirm that the pledge has been registered. The pledging country will then be shown in its dedicated hexagon on the main screens. And finally, the hexagon will then join the growing Pledge for Justice Mosaic alongside the hexagons of the United Arab Emirates, which will be the first one, and other member states. In this way, the audience will be able to see the collective commitment growing pledge by pledge, starting once more with the host country, while each participating member state will have a distinct moment during its national statement to mark its contribution. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Are there any further questions on this? I see none. Thank you. We are looking forward to hearing and seeing many countries pledging tomorrow. And now to the credentials of representatives to the Congress. In accordance with Rule 4 of the Rules of Procedure, a Credentials Committee of nine members shall be appointed at the beginning of the Congress on the proposal of the President. Its membership should, as far as possible, be the same as that of the Credentials Committee of the General Assembly at its preceding session. It is recommended that the Congress appoints a Credentials Committee based upon the Credentials Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations at its 80th session, thus composed of Andorra, Botswana, China, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Russian Federation, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America, on the understanding that any of those States not present would, upon the President's proposal, be replaced by another State from the same regional group. We have received to date confirmation of the participation from the following Member States in the Credentials Committee of the 15th Crime Congress: China, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Namibia serving in lieu of Botswana, the Russian Federation, Switzerland serving in lieu of Andorra, and the United States. As it seems that also Senegal is not in a position to attend, we wait to hear from the chair of the African group whether there is any country in the group willing to serve in lieu of Senegal. Can we in the meantime move forward? I see no objections. Thank you. The first meeting of the Good Intentions Committee is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, 27th of September at 2:00 PM in room RG3. Now, the participation of non-governmental organizations in the Congress. According to the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1996/31, entitled Consultative Relationship between the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs that do not have consultative status as ECOSOC may, under certain conditions, also participate in the Crime Congress. Based on paragraph 47 of ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, 1 the secretariat recommend to the preparatory committee in this case the ccpcj that eight of the nine of the ngos without ecosoc status that had applied for participation be accredited objections were discussed and resolved as announced during the second intercessional meeting of the ccpcj held on the 18th of February 2026 As such, the recommended NGOs without ECOSOC status can participate in the 15th Crime Congress. I would like to reiterate my appreciation to the delegations for their flexibility and spirit of cooperation. Now to the report of the Congress. In accordance with the practice followed for previous Congresses, The report of the Congress will consist of the adopted Abu Dhabi Declaration of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and any decisions taken during the Congress, as well as a brief account of the events leading to the convening of the Congress, the proceedings of the Congress, including a list of speakers addressing the high-level segment of the Congress, a summary of the deliberations of the work conducted by the plenary and chair summaries containing salient points made and recommendations for each of the workshops conducted in the committees. As per established practice, the report would also include an overview of the high-level segment thematic meetings The reports of the Committee I and Committee II will be considered at the final meetings of the respective committees for approval and transmission for adoption by the plenary on the final day of the Congress. The parts of the report that reflect the last day of the Congress will be finalized post-Congress under the guidance of the Rapporteur General. Participants in the pre-Congress consultations may wish to recommend that the Congress proceeds accordingly with the preparation of its report. Is this agreeable? I hear no objections. Thank you. And this brings us to any other business. Is there any other business? I don't see any requests for the floor. The recommendations agreed upon at today's pre-congress consultations will be reflected in a report which will be available at the opening of the congress tomorrow morning. Before we adjourn, I'd like to give once again the floor to the secretariat to make some announcements.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I would just like to draw the attention of the delegations to a communication which was circulated yesterday evening, containing information on the protocol arrangements and hospitality generously extended by the United Arab Emirates. as communicated by His Excellency Judge Ablushi, Chairperson of the National Organizing Committee, on behalf of the host country. First, in terms of access to the venue, Cabinet Ministers, Attorneys General, and Prosecutors General will have a dedicated access to ATNEC via entrance spot D. All other heads of delegations, including ambassadors and senior heads of diplomatic missions, are kindly advised to use any of the other gates for vehicle drop-off, grandstand, and entrance spot A, and that will allow smooth and direct access to the plenary hall. Secondly, As far as the opening is concerned, as you already mentioned, Mr. Chair, the Congress will commence promptly at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow with the procedural part, which will be followed at 10:25 by a ceremonial opening and the opening of the high-level segment. Delegations are strongly encouraged to ensure that their representatives are seated in the plenary hall by 9.15 to facilitate timely commencement of the Congress. Delegations are also kindly requested to remain seated during the break between the procedural part and the ceremonial opening. Then protocol arrangements for cabinet ministers, attorneys general and prosecutors generals, cabinet ministers, Attorneys General and Prosecutors General are kindly invited to make use of the VIP waiting room by 10 a.m. tomorrow, from where they will be escorted to their designated seats in the front rows of the plenary hall for the ceremonial opening by the protocol team of the host country. To ensure the timely seating for the ceremonial opening, all high-level officials are kindly requested to be seated in their designated VIP seats no later than 10:20 tomorrow morning. And then finally, the invitation to attend the gala dinner offered by the host country, scheduled to take place on Saturday, tomorrow, at 8:00 p.m. PM also here in a designated space at AdNec is extended to cabinet ministers, attorneys general and prosecutors general for whom for those categories there will be designated seats assigned by the protocol team of the host country. The invitation is also extended to all other heads of delegation and all official members of member states delegations and delegations of intergovernmental organizations. as well as some through the Vienna NGO Committee representation of the NGOs. The special message that was circulated yesterday also contains contact details of focal points at the Ministry of Justice of the host country who can be reached for further information. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for this information. And this conclude- concludes our meeting for the day, thank you very much, these consultations are adjourned.