Exploitation of gaming ecosystems is evolving. This article challenges common misconceptions, emphasising that risks vary by geographic context and platform. It advocates for an ecosystem-based approach — engaging developers and gamers directly — to move beyond ideological lenses and focus on the convergence of online harms to ensure safer digital spaces.
On 12 May, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) convened an Expert Group Meeting on addressing technology-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) linked to terrorism. The meeting brought together experts from international organizations, civil society, academia, and think tanks at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to discuss more effective ways of tackling this rapidly evolving threat.
For more than 16 years, the European Union’s Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence (EU CBRN CoE) Initiative has stood as a model of international cooperation and resilience. Bringing together 63 partner countries, this flagship programme has not only fostered collaboration but also delivered tangible results in strengthening national and regional capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to CBRN threats.
As digital technologies continue to transform every dimension of modern life, they are also reshaping the nature of crime, security, and justice at an unprecedented pace. Artificial intelligence, algorithmic systems, online platforms, and emerging technologies are creating new opportunities for development and innovation, while simultaneously generating increasingly complex risks that transcend borders, institutions, and traditional governance frameworks.
The unprecedented speed of digital transformation is reshaping not only the way societies communicate, work, and access information, but also the way crime evolves, operates, and impacts individuals, institutions, and States. In a global context marked by growing geopolitical tensions, social fragmentation, and accelerating technological change, the opportunities created by innovation increasingly coexist with new vulnerabilities that are often difficult to identify, govern, and contain.
How can governments respond effectively to minerals crime when criminal networks operate across borders, supply chains, and financial systems?
Across several regions of Africa, the relationship between terrorism and illicit economies interacts with broader patterns of insecurity. In environments marked by fragile institutions, porous borders and expansive informal markets, violent extremist groups and criminal actors operate within overlapping spaces where the boundaries between legality and illegality are often blurred. These conditions create environments in which illicit economic systems can be exploited by violent extremist groups.
Across several regions of Africa, the relationship between terrorism and illicit economies interacts with broader patterns of insecurity. In environments marked by fragile institutions, porous borders and expansive informal markets, violent extremist groups and criminal actors operate within overlapping spaces where the boundaries between legality and illegality are often blurred. These conditions create environments in which illicit economic systems can be exploited by violent extremist groups.
