Holness calls for “global war on gangs” at UN General Assembly

Jamaican Prime Minister (PM) Andrew Holness has urged the international community to launch what he called a “global war on gangs”, warning that transnational criminal networks now rival nation-states in power and pose an existential threat to security and stability. Speaking at the 80th United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Holness said the crisis in Haiti demonstrates how organised crime can destabilise entire societies. “The Haitian crisis has laid bare a wider truth. Transnational criminal networks involved in cybercrime, trafficking arms, narcotics, and people, organising violence, and destabilising institutions are an existential threat to states,” he declared.
Holness cautioned that regional efforts, including those led by CARICOM, while important, are not enough. “Gangs are now global syndicates with resources that rival nation-states. Jamaica has made significant progress in tackling gangs and reducing our homicide rate by more than 50 per cent in recent years. But we know that unless these networks are totally dismantled, our gains remain fragile,” he said. He called for deeper international cooperation to choke off the resources that sustain criminal groups. “This is why we call for nothing less than a global war on gangs, a coordinated international campaign to cut off the flow of weapons, money, and the influence that sustains them. This requires deeper engagement from all member states,” Holness told the Assembly. The PM urged major arms-exporting countries to do more, stressing, “They must tighten export controls, strengthen end-use monitoring, and ensure rigorous post-delivery verification.”
While emphasising security, Holness also underscored that military operations alone cannot solve Haiti’s crisis. “Haiti’s governance deficit and fragile institutional framework must be addressed. Once stability is restored, the international community must help rebuild democratic institutions, ensure free and fair elections, expand humanitarian relief, and invest in infrastructure to support long-term stability,” he said. He added that the global response to gangs should be as urgent and coordinated as the fight against terrorism: “What we need is a unified front with the same urgency, resources, and coordination the world has applied to terrorism. Only then can we turn the Caribbean, and indeed the wider region, into a true zone of peace.” Holness also used his address to press for climate financing, fairer access to development funds for small island states, and reforms to the global financial system. But his most urgent message was clear: without global action against organised crime, progress in Jamaica and across the Caribbean will remain at risk.