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United Nations, July
9, (Xinhua / GNA) – Some 464,000 people around the world have been victims of
homicide violence in 2017, more than five times the number of people killed in
conflict over the same period, announced Monday a study of the United Nations.
According to the study
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Central America is the first
most dangerous area to live in, where the number of homicides – or illegal
murders – increases in some "hotspots" to 62.1 per 100,000 population.
The safest places
are located in Asia, Europe and Oceania (Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and
Polynesia), where murder rates are 2.3, 3.0 and 2.8 respectively – well below
6.1 world average, the 2019 global survey on the UN agency homicides showed. AT
13.0, the homicide rate in Africa was lower than that of the Americas (17.2), which had
highest percentage in 2017 since the beginning of the collection of reliable data in 1990, UNODC
said, while highlighting the significant gaps in the data of some African countries.
A constant since the
beginning of this century is the link between organized crime and violence
deaths, according to the report.
The crime alone was
responsible for 19% of all homicides in 2017. This causes "a lot more
deaths in the world as armed conflicts and terrorism combined, "said UNODC
Executive Director Yury Fedotov in the preface to the executive summary of the
study.
Like a violent conflict,
organized crime "destabilizes countries, undermines socio-economic conditions
the rule of law, "according to UNODC, while Fedotov
stressed that unless the international community takes decisive action,
the Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the United Nations 2030 Development Agenda –
reducing all forms of violence and resulting mortality rates by 2030 – will not be achieved.
From a gender angle,
The UNODC report also revealed that if girls and boys aged nine and under were
more or less equally represented in number of victims, in all other ages
groups, men account for more than 50% of the balance sheet, according to
41 countries.
In all regions, the
The probability that boys become victims of homicide increases with age, while those
aged 15 to 29 are the most at risk of homicide in the world.
In the Americas, the
the victim rate among 18 to 19 year olds is estimated at 46 per 100,000, much higher
than for their peers in other regions, while guns are also involved
"much more often" in homicides in the Americas than elsewhere, the UN
report maintained.
"High levels of
violence are strongly badociated with young men, both as perpetrators and as
victims, "said the report,
"Then violence
Prevention programs should aim to help young men prevent
that they are not lured into a subculture of … gangs (and) drug traffickers. "
While women and girls
account for a much smaller share of victims than men, they continue to
"By far the heaviest burden" of intimate partner and family-related
homicide, the report said, adding that more than nine out of ten suspects
homicides are men.
"Murdered murders
by intimate partners are rarely spontaneous or random, "said Fedotov,
noting also that the phenomenon is often under-reported and "too often
ignored ".
In order to help
governments are attacking the homicide, the UNODC report has identified several drivers of the
problem, in addition to organized crime. They include firearms, drugs and
alcohol, inequality, unemployment, political instability and gender
stereotyping.
The study also
stressed the importance of fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law
right and invest in public services – especially education – which are
"critical" in reducing violent crime, he insisted.
Stressing the
the broad scope of the report, which covered a range of issues related to deadly gang violence
the use of firearms to links with inequality and gender-related murders,
Fedotov maintained
that it is "possible" to tackle the threat of criminal networks
with "targeted" policies.
These included
community involvement and police patrols, as well as police reform, whose goal is to
is to strengthen the confidence of officers among the local population.
For these young men
already trapped in criminal gangs, they need help "to be able to
"through social work, rehabilitation programs and
awareness of non-violent alternatives.
These efforts could be
more effective if they took place in "certain countries of the South and the South"
Central America, Africa and Asia "and" even in countries with strong
national homicide rates, "insisted the report.
"The killings are
often concentrated in specific states, provinces and cities, "he said.
"To knock down
The overall rate of homicides ultimately depends on the fight against deadly violence in these countries.
"hot spots". "
Although UNODC
study showed that the number of homicides rose from nearly 400,000 in 1992
to over 460,000 in 2017, he explained that the overall real rate has gone down
decreased (from 7.2 in 1992 to 6.1 in 2017) compared to the population
growth.
GNA
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