The Vietnamese delegation, led by Ambassador Tran Quoc Khanh, Ambassador of Viet Nam to Algeria, participated in the African Regional Preparatory Meeting for the United Nations Crime Congress, held from April 8-10, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This African Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice served as a vital forum for countries in the region to discuss and contribute to the upcoming high-level conference.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the panel discussion titled “The Road to Hanoi: The Opening Ceremony for the Signing of the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime”, intended to introduce the Convention and the planned signing ceremony scheduled to take place in Hanoi in October 2025. Speakers at the panel included Ambassador Tran Quoc Khanh (Ambassador of Viet Nam to Algeria); Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha (Assistant Director General, Department of International Law and Treaties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam); Ms. Ashita Mittal (Regional Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC] for Africa); and Mr. Mustafa Unal Erten (Head of Cybercrime Section, UNODC Office in Doha, Qatar).

As the first international criminal justice convention in 20 years, the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime criminalizes cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes, establishes mechanisms for international cooperation in cybercrime prevention, such as a 24/7 contact mechanism, electronic evidence sharing, and joint investigations, in addition to traditional legal assistance channels. To ensure the Convention’s substantive effectiveness, Viet Nam and UNODC called on countries to not only sign but also ratify the Convention.

In his remarks, Ambassador Tran Quoc Khanh emphasized that the Convention represents the international community’s commitment to multilateralism and creates a legal framework for international cooperation to effectively address cybercrime, a threat to the socio-economic development of both Africa and the world. He affirmed that the Opening Ceremony is not merely a signing event but also conveys a message of international cooperation in combating cybercrime, while offering an opportunity for the international community to learn more about and appreciate the Vietnamese people, culture, and country.

The African Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 15th UN Crime Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Crime Congress 15) took place from April 8-10, 2025, at the United Nations Conference Center in Addis Ababa, the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The preparatory meeting is an important step toward Crime Congress 15, which will take place from April 25-30, 2026, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), under the theme:  “Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice, and the Rule of Law: Protecting People and the Planet and Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Digital Age”. The panel “The Road to Hanoi: The Signing Ceremony of the United Nations Convention on Cybercrime” is part of a series of promotional activities for the signing event to be held in Hanoi in October 2025. Earlier, between January and March 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security of Viet Nam had introduced the Convention in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Europe.