It is commonly accepted that the rule of law is vital for the success of any nation state. And at the same time, it is increasingly acknowledged that the rule of law, security and development are interdependent. So it comes as no surprise that the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have included a specific goal to address this: SDG 16 "Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions" recognises that sustainable development requires the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice and effective, accountable, inclusive institutions.
But the fact is that the SDGs will only be achieved with the cooperation of a broad range of stakeholders, including many that were not involved with, or even aware of, the last global development framework known as the Millennium Development Goals. In Southeast Asia a significant effort will be required to draw criminal justice and public security authorities, organisations and related civil society groups into the SDG framework.
Importantly, the 2030 Agenda acknowledges that the prevention of crime and fair and effective justice helps set the stage for the SDGs generally, including those goals related to health, climate change, gender equality and community development. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Goodwill Ambassador for Rule of Law in Southeast Asia, Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, recently said it well when she explained, "The rule of law is about much more than policing, court cases and lawyers addressing criminal behaviour. The rule of law means a legal foundation to makes our governance institutions, educational system, our housing and our healthcare institutions more effective, accountable and inclusive." What Her Royal Highness is conveying is the essential notion that we need the "rule of law" for a safe, fair and just environment.
With this in mind, the UNODC and the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) will host the first High Level Conference on Sustainable Development, Crime Prevention and Safe Societies for Southeast Asia this coming week in Bangkok. Opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha and UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov, the conference comes as countries in the region debate how to move the ambitious 2030 Agenda forward.
The Conference builds on past initiatives including the Southeast Asia Regional Colloquium co-organised by UNODC and the TIJ, and the Bangkok Dialogue on the Rule of Law hosted by Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha in 2013. And while it will look at the intersection of community safety and key SDGs, and consider contributions that will be necessary to make SDG 16 a success, it will also consider lessons learned from within the Southeast Asia region that can be shared to help advance the 2030 Agenda. Importantly, it will bring together those that work on justice and public security issues with those that need to think of their work as related to social development.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has also been working to promote related agendas through the work of the Political-Security Community and the Socio-Cultural Community. Alongside other agendas, Asean focuses efforts to address non-traditional security challenges such as those associated with transnational organised crime and trafficking as well as factors in society which undermine the rule of law, such as corruption, or those that contribute to violence and different forms of crime. While these efforts of Asean are supported by UNODC and relate to the 2030 Agenda, and in particular SDG 16, the connection to sustainable development is unfortunately often not explicit or understood, and the right mix of stakeholders is often not involved -- something the conference will help to address.
Among the 250 delegates that will attend are the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice of Thailand, the Attorney-General of Thailand, the Secretary-General of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Minister and Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Myanmar, the Senior Adviser to the Minister of National Development Planning of Indonesia, the Vice Minister of Justice of Japan, the President of the Korean Institute of Criminology, Asean regional and international partner ambassadors, senior diplomats and delegations from across the Asean region, as well as leadership of UN agencies in Bangkok.
We expect the conference will kick off a discussion on the challenges facing the region that require a criminal justice or public security response, and the broad engagement needed to make the 2030 Agenda a success in Southeast Asia. And it will do so because an important group of leaders and thinkers will bring their insights and ideas to the table.
Kittipong Kittayarak is the Executive Director of the Thailand Institute of Justice and former Permanent Secretary of Justice, and Jeremy Douglas is the UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific and former UNODC Representative for Pakistan.