Doha, 09 June 2024

The UNODC Regional Centre for Combatting Cybercrime in Doha commemorates its anniversary, marking a year since its establishment.

The signing of the agreement on 9 June 2023 to establish the UNODC Regional Center for Combating Cybercrime and the subsequent establishment of the UNODC Programme Office in Doha marked a significant step in addressing the growing threat of cybercrime in the region.

The center, a testament to the State of Qatar's commitment to international cooperation, is the first and only training centre of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) focusing on provision of training and capacity development activities on preventing and combatting cybercrime.

Here are some of the achievements:

Official setup: The Centre is legally established; offices sufficiently equipped and started its operations.

Recruitment: The skillset that the Centre hosts is including cybercrime investigation, digital forensics, use of AI in law enforcement, project management, procurement, finance and administration, monitoring and evaluation, training design, development and delivery.

Research: The Centre is co-sponsor of a research cluster that has 6 different research projects in the state of Qatar and has started in contributing to the research studies on prevention of cybercrime in the MENA region.

Operating Procedures: The Centre created several SoPs for operations and works on production of tools and systems to facilitate operations of the Centre in compliance with international quality standards.

Partnership building: Apart from the strategic relationships forged with relevant key institutions in the region, the Centre is already being referenced in main strategic documents of the regional policy-making institutions, including the Arab Interior Ministers Council, League of Arab States. So far, in more than a dozen events within and outside Qatar, the Centre reached out to more than 200 criminal justice professionals from 22 countries.

The Centre also reached out to diplomats, students and academia. The anniversary is not just a reflection of the past year's achievements but also a reaffirmation of the center's ongoing mission to provide training, develop policies, and facilitate international cooperation against the ever-evolving threat of cybercrime.

The center's activities extend across the Middle East and North Africa, offering expertise and support in the global fight against cyber threats.

In the months to follow the Centre will be working on fitting of its facilities to provide a hub for its dedicated training programs. Plans are made to deliver increased number of capacity building activities each month.

Courtesy of

Mustafa Ünal Erten’s Postn - Linked in