Irish minister thanks UAE for hosting UN meet on crime prevention

Catherine Ardagh, Minister of State at of Ireland's Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration of Ireland, said that the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice – Abu Dhabi 2026 represents a key and effective pillar in global crime prevention efforts, which is a shared objective among all participants.

In statements made on Saturday on the sidelines of the congress, held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Ardagh thanked the UAE Government for hosting the 15th UN Congress.

“It is wonderful to be here. Everyone has come together with one shared objective: to prevent crime globally and to sign the Abu Dhabi Declaration, which we hope will provide a framework over the next five years to strengthen our ability to combat crime worldwide,” she said.

She added that meeting colleagues from across the UN system demonstrates how exchanging expertise can help strengthen national laws and ensure countries are better equipped to address large-scale, increasingly complex and technologically advanced crimes.

“These include, for example, terrorist financing, crimes linked to data centres, and other increasingly sophisticated crimes that we may not yet even be able to anticipate,” she said.

Ardagh emphasised the need to use technology and embrace artificial intelligence to combat crime at the same pace at which criminals develop new methods to defraud people and deprive communities of valuable resources to which they are entitled.

WAM