The history of interaction between Kazakhstan and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) dates back to the official visit by the Executive Director of the UN Drug Control Programme, J.Giacomelli, to Kazakhstan in May 1994.
On 4 May 1996, a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in Controlling Illicit Production, Trafficking and Abuse of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors was signed in Tashkent by the Central Asian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the UN Programme Executive Director (later joined by Russia, Azerbaijan and the Aga Khan Development Foundation).
Since 2009, the Kazakhstan has made voluntary contributions to UNODC for the implementation of various projects, including support to CARICC.
Cooperation between Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, and UNODC takes place under the UNODC Programme for Central Asia (2022- 2025) and the UNODC Regional Programme for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries (2022-2025). The UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia is located in Tashkent and the Country Office for Kazakhstan is located in Astana. Under the aforementioned programmes, some 20 projects are being implemented in Kazakhstan in various areas, including assistance to police reform, rehabilitation, reintegration and prosecution of foreign terrorist fighters and their families, prevention of radicalisation in prisons, combatting and cybercrime etc.
Kazakhstan has signed and ratified all major international drug and crime control agreements: the Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988), the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (2000) and its protocols, the UN Convention against Corruption (2003) and all 19 universal international conventions and protocols against terrorism (2019).
Kazakhstan actively participates in the two main functional commissions of ECOSOC, to which UNODC serves as Secretariat – the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ). Kazakhstan is a member to the CND for the period 2020-2023, having previously been a member in 2000-2003, 2008-2011 and 2014-2017.
Kazakhstan fulfils its international obligations by participating in the Mechanisms for the Review of Implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, for which UNODC acts as Secretariat.
Kazakhstan's cooperation with UNODC in the establishment and operation of the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Centre for combating illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors (CARICC), designed to coordinate the efforts of the competent authorities of the participating states in countering transnational drug-related crime, should be highlighted. As a condition for CARICC's location in Almaty, Kazakhstan provided a building for the Centre.
Of particular relevance to Kazakhstan is the Paris Pact initiative, the largest international initiative to take concerted action to curb the smuggling of Afghan opiates through West and Central Asia and Europe. UNODC serves as the coordinating mechanism for this project.
In June 2011, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov paid his first visit to Kazakhstan. In addition, the Head of UNODC participated in the 10th review meeting of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in Controlling Illicit Production, Trafficking and Abuse of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors, which took place in Astana in November 2017.
In April 2018, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan and UNODC was signed in Vienna between the Prosecutor General's Office and the UNODC to establish a Regional Hub for Countering Global Threats at the Kazakhstan Law Enforcement Academy. Over 1,500 practitioners, including those from foreign countries, annually improve their qualifications on its platform. Trainers and experts from more than 20 countries (Austria, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Romania, the United Kingdom, the United States, the CIS and others) teach them advanced methods of combating crime.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed in Vienna in September 2019 between the Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Nations.
In November-December 2021, UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly paid a regional visit to Central Asia, during which she met with the leadership of the country as well as line ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anti0Courruption Agency, Ministry of Interior, and the Special Representative of the President for International Cooperation. The Executive Director also visited CARICC, where she participated in the regular meeting of the CARICC Council of National Coordinators and had a meeting with the Director of CARICC.
In July 2022, as part of the celebration of Nelson Mandela International Day, Kazakhstan joined the Group of Friends of the Nelson Mandela Rules (UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners). During the event, UNODC commended opening of the Nelson Mandela Rules Centre at the Kostanai Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in November 2021.
In November 2022, the Office of the UNODC Regional Adviser on Cybercrime opened in Astana. In addition, the Office of the UNODC Regional Adviser on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing is already located in Kazakhstan at CARICC.
In 2022, Kazakhstan became the 60th country to join the Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE).