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close this bookHandbook on Justice for Victims (UNODCCP, 1999, 132 p.)
close this folderChapter V: Working together at the international level
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentA. Regional and subregional strategies
View the documentB. International cooperation to reduce victimization and assist victims
View the documentC. The role of the United Nations, in particular the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme
View the documentD. The role of non-governmental organizations
View the documentE. Reducing victimization: towards a concerted approach

(introduction...)

While most victim-related policies and practices will be developed and implemented nationally or locally, there is much to be gained from sharing expertise and exchanging experience at all levels, including the regional level and the broader, international level. Although stages of development, national circumstances and specific problems, as well as response capabilities, may differ, there are enough common features to make inter-country collaboration - among the authorities, services and professionals concerned - eminently worthwhile. Victim groups can also usefully pool their efforts, and some already have (a case in point being the relatives of disappeared persons). The basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power contained in the Declaration are inclusive enough to transcend national and cultural specificities, although their application should be adjusted to these specificities. The international norms developed by consensus in various areas represent basic standards against which jurisdictions can assess their own practices with a view to the changes that need to be introduced. Many jurisdictions can do so on their own (some have already advanced beyond the minimum desiderata); others will require some outside assistance. But all can profit from the cross-fertilization of ideas and shared know-how. It is a two-way street: developed countries have much to learn from the customary practices of developing countries focusing on conflict resolution and reparation to victims; the recent emphasis on "restorative justice" in some developed countries reflects a certain parallelism that could be made more explicit. In the "global village" which the world has increasingly become, with its instant communications, the plight of victims is highlighted daily, but this can be equally true for the attempts to reclaim them and to prevent their creation through increased human solidarity.