This policy brief draws on the five-year experience of the Resilience Fund from 2019 to 2024 to make a compelling case for recognizing and empowering civil society as a critical front-line actor in the fight against organized crime. At a time when transnational organized crime is growing in complexity and reach, and when civic space is shrinking globally, this brief reflects on the tangible impact of community-based responses and outlines a forward-looking agenda for policy, funding and institutional reform.

This brief will be presented at the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, which provides a unique and vital platform to reaffirm the importance of international cooperation against organized crime. Published one year ahead of the 15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi (April 2026), it aligns with the Congress theme: ‘Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age’.

We outline concrete ways in which civil society is central to crime prevention and response, demonstrating why the people carrying out this important work need to be supported and protected in their fight against organized crime.