April 26, 2012: Member States have been urged by the Secretary-General of the UNO
Ban Ki-moon to ratify and implement United Nations conventions to combat organized
crime and corruption. The call came from him as the discussed threats to international
peace and security on Wednesday. He said regional cooperation is a key to addressing
both illicit flows and human trafficking. Mr. Ban said there is a need for systems
that can detect and monitor what he called "the enormous flows" of illicit money generated
by criminal activities across borders. "Across the globe, insecure borders enable
the trafficking of drugs, weapons, contraband, terrorist funding, materials related
to weapons of mass destruction, conflict minerals, wildlife and people. Such illicit
flows undermine state sovereignty. They destroy communities and individual lives.
They are threats to peace and security and are rightly the focus of this Council's
close attention." He said. Mr. Ban said the United Nations is helping fragile
and vulnerable countries, including those that are recovering from conflict, to secure
their borders.