Due to its serious nature and recording by multiple data sources (police and public health), intentional homicide is widely accepted as one of the most accurate, reliable and comparable crime indicators for world crime trends and patterns. Using data from the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (UN-CTS) and the latest "homicide statistics" dataset of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Report provides a global overview of levels and trends of intentional homicide and its relationship with, and impact on, human development. The Report also examines the links between homicide and forms of organized crime, including drug trafficking, as well as the use of firearms. It describes characteristics of homicide victims and perpetrators (including from the gender perspective) as well as detailed data on homicide location.