The agency's focus is the trafficking and abuse of illicit drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism, and political corruption.

The United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna were merged to form the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.

[citation needed] UNODC incorporates the secretariat of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

[10] UNODC was established to assist the UN in better addressing a coordinated, comprehensive response to the interrelated issues of illicit trafficking in and abuse of drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism, and political corruption.

The office aims long-term to better equip governments to handle drug-, crime-, terrorism-, and corruption-related issues, to maximise knowledge on these issues among governmental institutions and agencies, and also to maximise awareness of said matters in public opinion, globally, nationally and at community level.

The Report, based on data and estimates collected or prepared by Governments, UNODC and other international institutions, attempts to identify trends in the evolution of global illicit drug markets.

The convention is a legally binding instrument that entered into force on 29 September 2003, through which States parties commit to taking a series of measures against transnational organized crime.

[12] In its resolution 55/61, the General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime was desirable.

[16] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has teamed up with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to run this campaign as a focus on how corruption hinders efforts to achieve the internationally agreed upon MDGs, undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to human rights violations, distorts markets, erodes quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish.

[17] Young people aged 15 to 24 account for an estimated 40 per cent of new adult (15+) HIV infections worldwide.

[19] In 2007, the five largest donors to UNODC's budget in descending order were: European Union, Canada, United States, the UN itself, and Finland.

[20] According to the Transnational Institute this explains why, until recently, UNODC did not promote harm reduction policies like needle exchange and heroin-assisted treatment.

[22] The UNODC has been criticized by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International for not promoting the inclusion of adherence to international human rights standards within its project in Iran, where there are "serious concerns regarding unfair trials and executions of those suspected of drug offences.

"[23] UNODC has signed a partnership with the controversial Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Center, which was founded by Ali bin Fetais Al-Marri, the General-Prosecutor of Qatar.