A/RES/56/123 the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, Welcoming the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto as a milestone to fight and prevent organized crime, one of the most serious contemporary threats to democracy and peace, Emphasizing the importance of the expeditious entry into force of the Convention and the Protocols thereto, Recognizing the need to maintain a balance in the technical cooperation capacity of the Centre for International Crime Prevention of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention of the Secretariat between the immediate priority of the Convention and the Protocols thereto and other priorities identified by the Economic and Social Council, Recalling its relevant resolutions, in which it requested the Secretary-General, as a matter of urgency, to provide the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme with sufficient resources for the full implementation of its mandate, in conformity with the high priority attached to the Programme, Bearing in mind the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 55/59 of 4 December 2000, and the plans of action for the implementation of the Vienna Declaration proposed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 1 Welcoming the report of the Meeting of the Intergovernmental Open-Ended Expert Group to Prepare Draft Terms of Reference for the Negotiation of an International Legal Instrument against Corruption, held at Vienna from 30 July to 3 August 2001, 2 1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 55/64 of 4 December 2000; 3 2. Reaffirms the importance of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme in promoting effective action to strengthen international cooperation in crime prevention and criminal justice, in responding to the needs of the international community in the face of both national and transnational criminality, and in assisting Member States in achieving the goals of preventing crime within and among States and improving the response to crime; 3. Also reaffirms the role of the Centre for International Crime Prevention of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention of the Secretariat in providing to Member States, upon request, technical cooperation, advisory services and other forms of assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, including in the areas of prevention and control of transnational organized crime and terrorism; 4. Welcomes the programme of work of the Centre, including the three global programmes addressing, respectively, the trafficking in human beings, _______________ 1 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 10 (E/2001/30/Rev.1), part two, chap. I. 2 See A/56/402-E/2001/105. 3 A/56/155. 2