- The Alliance for Security, Justice, and Development, led by the IDB, expanded its reach this year, mobilizing greater financing, technical assistance, and regional cooperation to combat organized crime.
- The Rapid Response Task Force is already supporting countries across the region with agile solutions to urgent security challenges.
- New regional initiatives are strengthening information sharing, preventing the recruitment of minors by criminal organizations, and enhancing cross-border coordination.
Organized crime does not wait, and it does not respect borders. Criminal networks move money, weapons, and people across jurisdictions faster than any single institution can respond. Their high levels of violence continue to leave Latin America and the Caribbean with the world’s highest crime rates while exploiting fragmentation among institutions and systems.
The Alliance for Security, Justice, and Development, spearheaded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), was created precisely to close those gaps. It serves as a regional platform where governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and academia work together to develop regional public goods that no country can produce alone: shared knowledge about how organized crime operates, cross-border coordination mechanisms that connect institutions, and pilot policies that can be tested in one country and scaled across the region.
The alliance emerged in response to requests from countries across the region. It was first proposed during the 2024 Security Summit in Ecuador and was formally launched months later in Barbados, with Ecuador serving as the first pro tempore presidency. Its founding declaration recognized that organized crime imposes significant social, institutional, and economic costs throughout the region and that its transnational nature requires a collective response.
In 2025, Argentina assumed the pro tempore presidency. Today, the alliance is led by 23 countries, representing more than 90% of the region’s population and more than 95% of its GDP. Its members recorded 92% of homicides in Latin America and the Caribbean, which remains the most violent region in the world. Together with 14 strategic partners and the IDB serving as the secretariat, these countries govern the alliance directly through their justice ministries and through technical working groups organized around three pillars: protecting vulnerable populations, strengthening security and justice institutions, and disrupting illicit markets and financial flows.
One year ago in Buenos Aires, the alliance adopted three commitments:
- Mobilize $2.5 billion for citizen security and justice by the end of 2028
- Develop a regional mechanism to facilitate the exchange of criminal records among countries
- Establish the Rapid Response Task Force to address urgent security challenges
As leaders convene for the alliance’s annual summit in Brasília on August 5–6, an important question arises: How much progress has been made?
Scaling Up: From Two Projects to a Regional Portfolio
The IDB approved $185.3 million in citizen security operations across two projects in 2024, which rose to $602 million across three operations in 2025, representing a 225% increase. In 2026, the pipeline reaches $1.42 billion, nearly a 670% increase compared to 2024 and already equivalent to 57% of the original three-year funding target established in Buenos Aires.
This growth is reflected in a broader geographic reach through an active portfolio of 17 operations spanning violence prevention, police modernization, digital interoperability, justice reform, prison systems, and institutional strengthening against organized crime.
At the same time, the IDB has significantly expanded non-reimbursable technical cooperation, enabling countries to access rapid technical support, evidence-based solutions, and innovative interventions. These initiatives range from violence interruption strategies and artificial intelligence-enhanced surveillance platforms to satellite monitoring of illicit activities and the development of new regional knowledge products.
The nearly eightfold increase in the security portfolio over just two years also reflects a structural milestone. Since 2025, the IDB has become the first multilateral development bank with a division dedicated exclusively to citizen security and justice, building on decades of sector expertise dating back to its first security operations in the late 1990s.
The Rapid Response Task Force (RRTF) was announced at last year’s summit as a permanent mechanism for rapid technical assistance in response to urgent security needs.
Just one year later, the RRTF has already supported multiple countries and established operational partnerships through technical cooperation agreements with international institutions and a growing network of strategic partners that enhance its capacity and impact.
The task force operates through different deployment models. One is designed for immediate-response situations. This occurred in Peru in 2025, when the government requested technical assistance on organized crime and extortion. The support contributed to the development of Peru’s 2026 National Security Plan.
Another model was deployed in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa, where the Task Force facilitated discussions between government officials and international experts on maintaining national security operations during natural disasters. The initiative provided both access to new expertise and support for strategic planning around future public policies.
None of these efforts would be possible without bringing together technical teams from different countries to address shared challenges. Throughout the year, workshops and working meetings laid the foundation for stronger information sharing and coordinated policymaking at both national and regional levels.
1. Secure Regional Information Sharing
On July 2–3 in Panama City, representatives from six countries and Spain’s Ministry of Justice participated in a practical workshop on ICARO, a new regional platform for the secure and standardized exchange of criminal records.
Originally announced during the 2025 Buenos Aires Summit, ICARO is inspired by Europe’s ECRIS system and has benefited from Spanish technical support. The initiative follows the same gradual path taken by ECRIS’s founders: building trust first, then technology. Strengthening countries’ ability to access timely information beyond their borders will be critical to future investigations and criminal prosecution efforts.
2. Preventing the Recruitment of Minors
In partnership with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the alliance hosted a policy dialogue and technical training program in Rome, bringing together regional and European experts to explore early intervention models to prevent the recruitment of minors by criminal organizations.
Among the featured approaches was Sweden’s Rätt Kurva model, which will also be presented in Brasília. The initiative produced the region’s first roadmap for the early identification of at-risk youth and established a new regional network for collaboration on prevention.
3. Strengthening Regional Coordination
In Buenos Aires, the alliance partnered with Argentina’s Ministry of Security to organize a regional workshop on criminal investigation and intelligence for complex crimes and organized crime.
Federal and national police representatives from seven countries, along with participants from Spain and the United States, exchanged experiences on police professionalization, intelligence integration, case management, technological interoperability, anti-money laundering efforts, and asset forfeiture. The workshop established channels for coordinated action among countries that previously had limited collaboration in these areas.
4. Building Institutional Capacity
Most recently, in New York, the alliance partnered with John Jay College to deliver an intensive training and certification program for police leaders from across Latin America.
Following the participation of more than 670 officers in the alliance’s regional training course launched earlier this year, 14 representatives were selected for in-person sessions with international experts. Participants also attended working sessions at the NYPD Academy and the New York Police Department’s Joint Operations Center, exploring topics including artificial intelligence, police training, and strategies to combat organized crime.
Strong police institutions are essential to democratic governance, and their institutional strengthening remains a decisive factor in the state’s ability to protect citizens effectively.
The Brasília Summit Marks the Next Chapter in Regional Cooperation
The growth of security operations, the deployment of a functioning emergency-response mechanism, and the development of regional initiatives all reflect the alliance’s broader mission. Together, they reinforce a simple reality: no country can confront organized crime alone, and no single tool can replace the relationships built through sustained cooperation.
On August 5–6, at the headquarters of Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the summit will bring together more than 50 authorities, including ministers, attorneys general, and the Secretary General of INTERPOL, as well as over 20 panelists from the judiciary, academia, and the private sector.
The summit will also serve as an opportunity to expand the alliance through the incorporation of new members, new cooperation agreements, the launch of regional initiatives, and further strengthening of mechanisms such as the Rapid Response Task Force.
The Security Summit in Brasília represents the place where a growing coalition of countries and partners comes together to demonstrate that the only effective response to organized crime is one that is built collectively.
Connect to watch the live stream of the event's opening ceremony on August 5 starting at 8:00 a.m. (ET):