[JURIST] A rising crime rate in Caribbean nations is one of the main challenges threatening those nations’ economies, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) [official website] reported [text, PDF] Wednesday. According to the Caribbean Human Development Report 2012, the “region is home to 8.5 percent of the world’s population, yet it concentrates some 27 percent of the world’s homicides. Violence and crime are therefore perceived by a majority of Latin American and Caribbean citizens as a top pressing challenge.” Gang-related violence [press release] specifically plays a large role in destabilizing economies throughout the Caribbean. The report estimates that the cost of gang-related crime is between 2.8 and 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the region. The cost of policing is a factor, but so too is the loss of income by incarcerated youths and the loss of potential tourism revenues. The report indicates that “[h]igh rates of violent crime can be turned around by achieving a better balance between legitimate law enforcement and preventive measures, with a stronger focus on prevention.”

The UN has expressed similar concern about rising homicide rates in the Central American region of the world. In October of last year, a UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [official website] report [JURIST report] found that homicide rates in Central American countries, including El Salvador and Honduras, are reaching a “crisis point.” The report found that young men in Central and Southern America, Central and Southern Africa and the Caribbean are at the greatest risk of intentional homicide. In June 2010, the UNODC released a report [JURIST report] detailing the globalization of organized crime and its threat to international security. The report specifically addressed the global economic impact of human and drug trafficking, sale of illicit firearms, piracy, identity theft and the illegal exploitation of natural resources. The report echoed warnings issued by the UNODC [JURIST report] in May 2010, stating that the inadequacies of the current international crime control system are allowing organized crime organizations to gain economic strength.