Latin America and Caribbean Launch Regional Alliance Against Organised Crime

• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has announced the launch of a regional security alliance against crime that brings together 18 governments across Latin America and the Caribbean as well as several international finance institutions.
• "Security needs to be part of the solution for our economic progress," IDB President Ilan Goldfajn told reporters ahead of the project's launch in Barbados, saying countries worried about the cost of crime had requested the initiative.
• The IDB is set to provide US$1Bn in financing for projects aligned with the initiative next year, Goldfajn added and plans to mobilize public and private donors to raise more funds. The projects include the regional sharing of criminal records among alliance members and meetings to discuss money laundering tied to illegal mining in the Amazon.
• The alliance also includes the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community, INTERPOL, the World Bank and regional development banks and has a strong social focus on reducing communities' vulnerabilities, as well as strengthening police, state justice institutions and hitting financial crime.

(Source: Reuters)