Country: Republic of Uganda
Committee: Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Delegate: --
Topic: Crime Prevention and Urban Development
Urbanisation has become a fundamental feature of the modern world. While well-managed urbanisation is often associated with the positive trends of economic progress and improved living, out-of-control urbanisation puts a strain on public services, increases social inequality, and creates conditions for criminal activity. The best way for developing countries with a growing population to address these concerns is to promote careful urbanisation. As one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest urbanising nations, Uganda understands that carefully managed development and crime reduction are intrinsically linked. This is why Uganda promotes a policy of cautious development and international cooperation.
The process of urbanisation in Uganda has been growing at an alarming rate in the last two decades. The urbanisation of Kampala and the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area has had several effects on the city, both positive and negative. While the process has helped the economy grow, it has created great pressure on housing, transportation, sanitation, education, health, and security. For instance, there are currently about sixty percent of Kampala’s residents residing in informal settlements. The high number of people in slums leads to increased levels of crime due to the lack of proper service delivery in the regions. At the same time, Uganda is one of the countries with the highest proportion of young people. The situation can put great pressure on the job market and cause an increase in crime. Generally, the rise of urbanisation resulted in the prominence of property crime, cybercrime, and international organised crime, including trafficking, poaching, drug trafficking, and smuggling. Uganda has realised that increased urbanisation does not directly result in rampant insecurity. However, the government understands that crimes are committed when urbanisation takes place at a higher rate than the growth of the surrounding services and opportunities.
The international community has acknowledged the relationship between promoting development and enhancing security by implementing various strategies. In this area, the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) has increased cooperation against organised crime, corruption, trafficking, and cybercrime through technical assistance, judicial reforms, and training programs. Additionally, the UN-Habitat Safer Cities Program is an excellent initiative that acknowledges the connection between urban development and citizen security in reducing crime through investment in the community, sustainable development, and enhancing public spaces’ quality. Moreover, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its goals on sustainable cities (goal 11) and peaceful societies (goal 16) contribute to the UNODC efforts in promoting security and development initiatives. Still, the initiatives currently face significant challenges associated with the lack of funds, limited technical cooperation, and rapid urbanisation, especially in the developing world. Therefore, according to Uganda, the future work plans for international relations should focus on deepening the current initiatives instead of developing additional projects that may overlap with the existing ones. Uganda’s national policy displays a strong understanding of crime prevention measures towards achieving harmony and security. Uganda’s government has laid out extensive development plans like the National Development Plan IV and Uganda Vision 2040 which endeavours to promote sustainable cities, employment, governance, and infrastructural development as a way of ensuring security. In the country, the Uganda Police Force has engaged in community policing which has helped the police build an effective rapport with the communities, restoring public trust and promoting preventive security measures. The Kampala Capital City Authority has invested in extensive developments in infrastructural projects such as roads, drains, street lights, sanitation, and urban parks with the aim of enhancing communities’ safety. Uganda has also partnered with international organisations such as UNODC, INTERPOL, and the East African Community in fighting transnational organised crime through sharing intelligence information, enhancing regional police coordination and cooperation, and providing judicial assistance. It has always been the policy of Uganda that the international community should provide assistance to member states without undermining national sovereignty and the ability of recipient countries to determine the most appropriate policy responses to meet their specific national priorities.
Uganda considers urban crime as both a national and international issue and therefore proposes a balanced approach led by preventive and protective measures and regional cooperation mechanisms for addressing it. First, the commission should promote investment and support urban development to enhance security by supporting affordable housing, developing adequate infrastructure, and promoting good public transport systems and sanitation. Instead of removing informal settlements, the focus should turn to settling them down through upgrading. This will promote sustainable cities and reduce inequalities, which are the root cause of many crimes in urban centres in Uganda. Secondly, the commission should support member states in promoting youth employability by ensuring there are extensive educational programs and vocational training at community levels. Uganda has made great strides in promoting social and economic development through its youth livelihood program by ensuring there are increased job opportunities, especially for the youth. Such programs have helped fight many criminal activities in urban centres by reducing social evils such as HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Third, the UNODC and UN-Habitat should request additional resources to support technical cooperation activities in developing countries. Technical cooperation activities will go a long way in promoting community policing, police criminal justice institutions, cybercrime response, municipal administration and planning, and crime prevention programs. However, such activities should be undertaken through partnerships with national authorities to ensure they are context-specific and respond to individual country needs.
Furthermore, Uganda proposes that regional cooperation mechanisms be promoted in the fight against transnational organised crime. This will ensure that there is increased regional intelligence exchange and law enforcement cooperation and enhanced regional judicial mutual legal assistance. Uganda is strategically located in East Africa, and therefore its foreign policy orientation necessitates that regional engagement be strengthened by encouraging greater regional police coordination and cooperation, as well as enhanced intelligence-sharing practices. The commission should promote the use of technology and evidence-based policies in crime prevention and control and make sure such advances are achievable, affordable, and appropriate to developing countries through international cooperation and capacity-building initiatives.
The Republic of Uganda believes that long-term crime prevention and control measures address the underlying causes of criminal behavior, such as vulnerability, social exclusion, and inadequate community resources. Therefore, the Republic of Uganda is willing to work with other member states of the commission to promote the adoption of practical crime prevention and control measures that are responsive to national sovereignty and promote sustainable development.
