Pakistan has called for a holistic approach to fight transnational organized crime that tackles the root causes, promotes social inclusion, and ensure equal access to justice for all.

This was stated by Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Usman Iqbal Jadoon, while addressing the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

He said transnational organized crime continue to impede the rule of law, economic development and achievement of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Speaking in a debate on crime prevention and criminal justice and countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes, he said that climate change, with its devastating impacts, provides new opportunities for organized criminal groups to infiltrate vulnerable situations.  He said other forms of transnational organized crimes, particularly money-laundering, cybercrime, corruption, human smuggling and trafficking, continue to pose formidable challenges.

Ambassador Iqbal Jadoon also highlighted Pakistan's efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing, including by setting up an independent financial monitoring unit to cooperate with other countries to wipe out the menace.

Drawing attention to a surge in hate crimes, including those fueled by Islamophobia, and other acts of provocation that incite intolerance and violence based on race, ethnicity, religion, or belief,  he stressed the need for  fostering mutual respect for religious and cultural beliefs to promote understanding and coexistence.

The Ambassador further said that the exponential proliferation of disinformation through online platforms and social media has exacerbated social discord, competing nationalisms, discrimination, hate speech, stigmatization, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and related intolerances.

 He said Pakistan looks forward to contributing constructively to the upcoming negotiations on the draft supplementary protocol to the Convention.

As regards world drug problem, the Pakistani envoy said it continues to take a heavy toll on health, safety, security, socioeconomic development and well-being of individuals, families and society as a whole.  He said in addition to persistent challenges, the emerging challenges   including,   for   instance,   the   proliferation   of   New Psychoactive Substances, and the growing use of darknet for illicit drug purposes are a matter of serious concern.

Ambassador Iqbal Jadoon said the Government of Pakistan remains firmly committed to eradicate the scourge of drug-abuse organized crime and the use of ICTs for criminal purposes through cooperative global efforts.