Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw.

Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction.

From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza.

In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime delves into non-fiction books about organized crime and the illicit economy with the authors themselves. He asks questions about their background and investigations, but also the challenges associated in writing about this murky world.

This episode explores the importance of gender equality and gender sensitive policies and programmes in national and international responses to organized crime, including how these issues are approached in multilateral negotiations. Ian Tennant speaks to Ambassador Corinne Kitsell, an experience British multilateral diplomat, who is currently the UK's Permanent Representative to several international organizations in Vienna.

Presenter: Ian Tennant, Director of Multilateral Engagement, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Speakers:

H.E. Corinne Kitsell, UK Permanent Representative in Vienna.

Additional Links:

UN-TOC Watch - UN-TOC Watch aims to support the UN and wider multilateral system so that it can respond more systematically to the threats posed by organized crime and help mitigate its impact in the areas such as conflict and violence, the environment, migration and cyberspace.

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

On 29 July 2024, the reconvened session of the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) to conclude negotiations on a new UN convention on cybercrime began. The AHC is mandated to submit a draft convention to the UN General Assembly by 9 August. Since the AHC began its negotiations in 2022, competing visions for this convention have not been reconciled. Some countries have pushed for a treaty with a narrow scope and clear rights protections and safeguards. Others, who have pushed for an expanded instrument with intrusive and far-reaching powers. This special episode discusses the role of safeguards in promoting cooperation. Leading experts in international cooperation explain the need for safeguards and how the convention can help develop a common understanding of minimum guarantees to build trust between states and enable cooperation.

Presenter: Ana Paula Oliveira, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Speakers:

Michael Daniel, President & CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance.

Marika McAdam, an independent international law and policy advisor