The year 2005 was marked by significant achievements in respect of the Organized Crime Convention and its Protocols on both the legal and the political level. On the legal side, the Firearms Protocol constituted a major milestone allowing the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to achieve its immediate goal of supporting the prompt entry into force of all the instruments within a period of only 5 years since its adoption. UNODC’s activities now focus on the universal ratification of and full compliance with the instruments. On the political side, 2005 saw an unmistakable collective will of the international community to fight transnational organized crime. Examples of this intense will to fight included: the reaffirmation of the strong commitment of member states to make joint efforts to combat transnational crime and strengthen the technical assistance capacity of UNODC and from the Bangkok Declaration on Synergies and Response: Strategic Alliances in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which called upon donor States and financial institutions to continue to make adequate voluntary contributions on a regular basis for the provision of technical assistance to facilitate the ratification and implementation of the Organized Crime Convention and its Protocols.