The ICPC took part part in a seminar on “Crime Challenges in Ecuador 2023” held at the Central University of Ecuador on 12 June 2023. Organized by the Faculty of Jurisprudence, the Julio Endara Institute of Criminology at the Central University of Ecuador, and the Pan-American Studies Center (CEPEIGE), the seminar brought together various academic and institutional players from Ecuador and other Latin American countries to discuss different approaches, methods, and tools for preventing crime-related challenges. It was in this context that Oscar Figueroa, ICPC strategic consultant for Latin America, presented the mission, the network of members around the world, and the organization’s main current projects.
On 19 June 2023, at the Maison du développement durable, the ICPC was pleased to take part in an information session on the regional component (2023-2025) of the “Prévention Montréal” programme, presented by members of the City of Montréal’s Service de la diversité et de l’inclusion sociale (SDIS).
Created in 2020, Prévention Montréal helps to include citizens aged 0-30 at risk of exclusion and discrimination by mobilizing and consulting them. The programme helps to strengthen their civic and social commitment by helping them to learn more about their rights, but also by promoting their participation through sport, leisure and culture.
By adopting more inclusive public initiatives, notably through the ADS+ approach (Gender and Intersectionality Analysis), the City of Montreal hopes to promote high-quality, safe living environments in the future, particularly on the Internet, by raising awareness and preventing cyber-violence.
Aware of the importance of this initiative, the ICPC stressed the importance of launching a project specifically focused on “support for stakeholders”. This project would make it possible to support local participants, organisations and community initiatives that are actively working to prevent exclusion and discrimination in order to make an active contribution to building a society that is inclusive, egalitarian and respectful of all.
Erich Marks, Executive Director of the Crime Prevention Council of Lower Saxony and Ann ChampouxAnn Champoux and Jumma Assiago, Global Coordinator of the Safer Cities Programme at UN-Habitat
From June 12 to 13, 2023, Ann Champoux, Director General of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC), was in Mannheim, Germany, to take part in the 28th German Prevention Congress, which this year focused on crisis management and prevention. Among the nearly 2,000 participants, Ms. Champoux had the opportunity to meet with guests of honor, including community stakeholders, international organizations, and governments.
The ICPC was able to represent Quebec and Canada at the conference, highlighting its work through a video broadcast on the conference platform. In this video, ICPC analyst Janny Montinat illustrates the research work carried out on one of our reports published in 2022, which focused on the “Glorification of firearms on social media and prevention best practices: an overview”. During the event, Ann Champoux took part in various conferences and workshops covering topics such as women’s leadership in urban safety, managing feelings of insecurity, community policing planning, co-constructing safer neighborhoods, anticipating safety threats in public spaces and surveillance to achieve global safety and prevention goals.
The two days spent in Germany gave the ICPC the opportunity to make some valuable meetings. Ann Champoux met with Dr. Burkhard Hasenpusch, a former ICPC collaborator, an expert in many crime-related fields, and a great expert on the current situation in Germany. Among our members, we were able to strengthen our partnerships with important contacts such as Johannes de Haan, Head of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Justice Section, UNODC, Jumma Assiago, Global Coordinator of UN-Habitat’s Safer Cities Program, Elizabeth Johnston, Executive Director of EFUS, Felix Munger, Executive Director of the Canadian Municipal Crime Prevention Network, Erich Marks, Executive Director of the German Foundation for Crime Prevention and Offender Support (DVS) and of the German Crime Prevention Congress, and former member of the ICPC Executive Committee, as well as representatives of Safe.brussels.
Representatives of the European Forum for Urban Security, UN-Habitat and the Canadian Municipal Crime Prevention Network
A very interesting meeting was also held with Dr. John Rook during his conference on the criminalization of poverty. Dr. Rook is a renowned expert in this field, founder and Director of the Canadian Poverty Institute at Ambrose University in Alberta, as well as President and CEO of the Simon House Recovery Center in Calgary. Their discussion helped deepen our knowledge about the social reintegration of ex-offenders and explore partnership opportunities between the ICPC and Alberta organizations.
We would like to thank the 28th German Prevention Congress and all our partners for the very positive exchanges that took place over the two days.
On Wednesday 14 June, the ICPC hosted in Montreal the President of the RC3D (Réseau pour la Coopération Décentralisée et le Développement Durable), Ms Angèle Bagnia, the President of the Associations des communes et villes unies du Cameroun pour le littoral (CUVC), Mr Valentin Epoupa Bossambo, and the Executive Director of the Société d’Assainissement du Cameroun (SECA), Ms Arlette Tchapoya, who is also a member of the Douala City Council.
The RC3D promotes international and inter-professional exchanges of experience and knowledge transfer, thus creating a platform that is unique in Africa and Canada.
The purpose of this meeting was, therefore, to renew the cooperation between our two entities following the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to evaluate the actions taken and to outline the possibilities for collaboration to prevent crime.
On 8 June, the ICPC took part in a lunchtime talk at which Anne-Marie Ducharme, a doctoral student in psychoeducation at the University of Sherbrooke, presented a report on the clinical consequences of trauma suffered by adolescent girls in contact with street gangs and their involvment with sexual exploitation and violence.
The meeting, which brought together various institutional, academic and community players, including members of RÉSAL, allowed the ICPC to benefit from the experience gained by stakeholders in the field, to learn about the concerns shared by the practice groups and to make conceptual progress on its projects funded by the Urban Safety Laboratory of the Quebec Ministry of Public Safety on recruitment by street gangs and the sexual exploitation of teenagers.
The International Centre for the Prevention of Crime recently participated in the 32nd session of the UNODC Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which took place from 22 to 25 May 2023 in Vienna, Austria. The event included the spring coordination meeting of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (UNCPJ) network, of which the ICPC is a member.
Ann Champoux, Director General of the ICPC, represented the organisation at this 32nd meeting, marking the return of this in-person event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the event, Ann Champoux attended the main PNI workshop, which focused on “Improving the operation of the criminal justice system to ensure access to justice and a safe and secure society”, as well as taking part in conferences on key crime prevention issues.
This international meeting was an opportunity for the ICPC to consolidate its partnerships with several major staekeholders involved in violence prevention. Alongside meetings with members of our network, the ICPC had the pleasure of talking to Ian Tennant, head of the Vienna multilateral representation of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), and Walter Kemp, director of global strategy against transnational crime at GI-TOC. They were able to discuss the ICPC’s Urban Safety Laboratory model and explore partnership opportunities between the two organizations.
The ICPCwould like to thank the organizers of the PNI meeting, as well as all the participants and partners with whom productive exchangeshas been held.
In June 2023, ICPC welcomed three new team members: Solal Holtz, Élise Gelattly and Océane Couturier.
Élise, a communications student at the Université du Québec à Montréal, and Océane, a law student at the Université de Montréal, joined the team under the Young Canada Works (YCW) student employment programme as communications assistant and research assistant.
Solal, digital communications assistant, obtained his bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and his certificate in international cooperation and solidarity from the Université de Montréal. Having previously worked at the International Bureau for Children’s Rights, Solal has developed his skills in the field of communications and social media management, which he’ll bring to the organization in order to contribute effectively to its missions.
The ICPC took an active part in the second edition of the Colloque Urbanité et jeunes marginalisés : de la confrontation à la bienveillance, held on May 24, 2023 in Montréal-Nord and attended by nearly 200 people. The event, jointly organized by Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel and the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Research on Community and Educational Services, aimed to bring together social, institutional and academic players to debate and exchange views on the challenges and opportunities of caring for marginalized youth.
The day kicked off with a series of conferences addressing issues such as the “non-recourse” to rights and services, the representation of deviance and delinquency among girls, as well as armed violence and political perspectives among young people. The second part of the event focused on initiatives and solutions put in place to meet the needs of young people in difficulty. Various presentations were given, including on citizen initiative incubators, community mental health clinics and understanding the causes and forms of youth violence.
The day ended with a plenary session, where ICPC members had the opportunity to network with other participants. The meeting established valuable links with other organizations and strengthened collaborations to better care for marginalized youth and promote their well-being within the community.
On April 27th, the Annual General Meeting of Montreal International was held at Cirque Éloize. The ICPC attended, along with nearly 300 members of the Montreal International community, followed by an evening of networking. Thank you for the invitation!
ICPC is proud to have participated in the event “Mieux prévenir l’exploitation sexuelle: Parole aux Jeunes!”, organized by the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (IBCR) on May 11 at the Centre PHI in Montreal.
The event gave a voice to young people and discussed the important issue of sexual exploitation of young people, particularly in the context of the current pandemic.
The event represented the culmination of two years of hard work by five groups of young teens from the Greater Montreal area who had participated in the “Parole aux jeunes!” project. Over 70 teenagers (aged 14 to 17) took a close look at the complex issue of sexual exploitation of young people, particularly in the context of the current pandemic. The teens shared their perspectives, exchanged ideas, and reacted to recent prevention campaigns in the province, in order to better understand the problem and make recommendations to combat this scourge.
Some recommendations suggested by the teens:
Partnership with a well-known Instagrammer or celebrity to raise awareness and make the subject less taboo
Training for parents
Explain to young people how to recognize toxic signs.
In conclusion, the ICPC is proud to have taken part in the event “Preventing sexual exploitation: Young People Speak Out” organized by the IBCR, and is committed to an ongoing exploration of mutual collaboration on similar themes, with a common concern for prevention.
Organized by the Faculty of Jurisprudence, the Julio Endara Institute of Criminology at the Central University of Ecuador, and the Pan-American Studies Center (CEPEIGE), the seminar brought together various academic and institutional players from Ecuador and other Latin American countries to discuss different approaches, methods, and tools for preventing crime-related challenges. It was in this context that Oscar Figueroa, ICPC strategic consultant for Latin America, presented the mission, the network of members around the world, and the organization’s main current projects. 
