Description: This parallel event will explore how Citizen Data (CD) can strengthen efforts to address violence against women and other groups, including marginalized people within LGBTQIA+ communities, and improve access to justice. It will present the work of the Collaborative on Citizen Data and its dedicated gender data working group, highlighting practical examples of the power of CD to surface hidden forms of violence, support service delivery, and inform policy responses. The session will showcase approaches from civil society organizations (CSOs) and examples of collaborations with official statistical systems, and discuss opportunities to integrate citizen data into national and global gender data systems.
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Asia-Pacific Stats Café Series: Unlocking the Power of Data and Innovation for Sustainable Development
Description: This Stats Café showcased concrete examples from countries in Asia and the Pacific which are implementing the guiding principles of the Data For Now initiative to advance their national development priorities. Agenda Opening remarks: Ayodele Marshall, ESCAP Overview of the Data for Now and DATAS initiative, Faryal Ahmed, UNSD Presentation 1: Using Mobile Positioning Data (MPD) to gain insights into internal migration, Ms. Ashiyath Shazna, Maldives Presentation 2: Strengthening crime statistics and improving public safety through data partnerships, Ms. Shaista Bi, Fiji Presentation 3: Using Advanced Techniques to Address Child Poverty and Food Security, Ms. To Thuy Hanh, Viet Nam Presentation 4: Levering geospatial information for SDG 9 and 11 monitoring and use of citizen data to inform policymaking, Ms. Nazira Kerimalieva, Kyrgyzstan Q & A and discussion Closing remarks: Ayodele Marshall, ESCAP Background National and global decision-makers require an unprecedented volume of high-quality, timely, and granular data to design and evaluate policies. The Data For Now initiative , launched in 2019 by the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed during the UN General Assembly, aims to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems to produce more timely and relevant data for policy-making and to monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with priorities defined by each country. Led by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the initiative has supported more than 20 countries in leveraging innovative data sources, technologies, partnerships, and methodologies—such as geospatial data, mobile phone records, and administrative data—to inform policies in key areas including food security, poverty reduction, urban planning, and environmental protection. Building on the Data for Now initiative, UNSD and the UNDESA Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) have recently launched the Data for SIDS (DATAS) initiative to provide targeted support to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in addressing their data capacity challenges. DATAS focuses in particular on enhancing national data governance and coordination, improving data production and availability, supporting better dissemination and reporting of statistical information and promoting collaboration and exchange of experiences among SIDS, understanding the unique challenges faced by SIDS. , Stats Café Home: Upcoming events Concluded events
Description: The interregional Webinar, organized by ECLAC within the framework of the DA15 Development Account Project, brings together experts and representatives from different regions to advance the measurement and reduction of illicit financial flows. The initiative seeks to consolidate methodologies, validate national experiences, and strengthen statistical and institutional capacities, in line with indicator 16.4.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Description: Illicit financial flows (IFFs) represent a critical obstacle to sustainable development, systematically diverting vital public resources away from essential services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. By exacerbating inequality, eroding public trust, and weakening the rule of law, IFFs, which encompass practices like trade misinvoicing, tax evasion, and cross-border criminal proceeds—demand a coordinated and sophisticated policy response. In recognition of this global challenge, the international community has made curbing these flows a key commitment under Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.4. To advance this agenda, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will convene a dedicated technical workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from November 17 to 19, 2025. This in-person event will bring together senior policymakers and technical officials from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan who are directly involved in developing measures to combat IFFs. The workshop is designed to provide a deep dive into the complex nature and policy dimensions of illicit financial flows. Drawing on the latest evidence, country-specific estimates, and international good practices, the sessions aim to strengthen the capacity of participants to effectively formulate, implement, and evaluate robust policy measures tailored to their national contexts. Further details about the workshop are available from Alick Mjuma Nyasulu (nyasulua@un.org), Mr Zheng Jian (jianz@un.org), and Ms Anastasia Maga (anastasia.maga@un.org)
Source: ESCAP SIAP (Data extracted on: 08 Dec 2025 )
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Organizer(s): ESCAP SIAP UN-Women UNODC-KOSTAT
Description: This e-learning course introduces crime statistics from a gender perspective to produce reliable indicators to monitor the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course offers participants an opportunity to explore gender concepts and frameworks on SDG indicators relevant to crime and criminal justice statistics including gender-based SDG targetswith the overall aim of strengthening regional capacity in producing high-quality SDG indicator data and overall statisticsto inform policy decisions at national and international levels. This course is the third of its kind and builds on the content covered in the two previous e-learning courses from 2020 and 2022. This iteration of the course includes updated versions of the four modules from previous courses to reflect recent developments in crime and gender statistics. Additionallyit introduces two new modules"Gender-related killing of women and girls (femicide/feminicide)" and "Technology-facilitated Violence against Women." Participants who completed earlier versions of this course will have the opportunity to refresh their knowledge and explore recent developments in crime statistics. The content of this e-learning course has been jointly developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)the UNODC-KOSTAT Centre of Excellence for Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice in Asia and the Pacific (UNODC-KOSTAT CoE)the United Nations Statistical Institute of Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Knowledge and Partnerships Centre in the Republic of Korea.
Description: The workshop targets national institutions engaged in the measurement of illicit financial flows (IFFs) and the development of related policies. Expected participants include mid-level experts from the Law Enforcement Academy, the National Committee of Statistics, the State Customs Committee, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Central Bank, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and other state organs in Uzbekistan. The primary objective of the workshop is to strengthen the statistical capacity of national institutions to measure trade-related IFFs. It is funded under the DA15 project, “Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows.”
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Original webpage was deleted, archived version from the Internet Archive (not a UN service): Link
Description: This training workshop will provide a platform for policymakers and technical officials to deepen their understanding of the nature and policy dimensions of illicit financial flows, drawing on evidence, estimates, and international good practices. It aims to strengthen the capacity of participants to formulate, implement, and evaluate policy measures tailored to their national contexts. The target audience for the workshop will include policymakers and senior officials from government institutions involved in governance, statistics, public finance, and anti-illicit flow efforts. Specific institutions such as the Banke of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, National Statistics Office, National Customs Authority, Ministry of Finance, Customs and Tax Authorities will be invited.
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Original webpage was deleted, archived version from the Internet Archive (not a UN service): Link
Description: The workshop targets national institutions involved in IFF measurement and policy development. Expected participants are mid-level experts from: Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh Customs, Bangladesh National Bureau of Revenue and Ministry of Finance. The objective of the workshop is to strengthen the statistical capacity of national institutions to measure trade-related IFFs. It is funded under a DA15 project “Measuring and curbing illicit financial flows”. Please find the concept note here.Please click the link to get to Day 2 Files
Description: Corruption is a challenge all countries in the world are facing and there are substantial information needs among decision makers and other stakeholders on the extent of it, which types of corruption are most common and who are key perpetrators and victims of corruption. Yet, statistics on corruption is not readily available in most countries due to a variety of reasons.
Description: Body UNCTAD's Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes (ALDC) in partnership with UNCTAD Statistics Service, works jointly with African countries to develop and implement effective policies to tackle illicit financial flows (IFFs) based on robust measurements and evidence of the most harmful IFFs in each country, and enable the focus of countries to increase their fiscal space for sustainable development. UNCTAD strives for consensus-building, cutting edge thinking to support African countries to build their institutional capacity to understand IFFs better, and address more effectively their sustainable development financing needs.In this regard, UNCTAD is coordinating a joint measurement workshop and policy expert group meeting with the main objective of looking at policy options that can be implemented to curb IFFs and strengthen domestic resource mobilization for African countries based on nationally compiled IFF statistics.The meeting is organized in two parts: the measurement workshop will be held on Monday, 3 February and Tuesday, 4 February (morning) and is open to countries’ representatives of the project, while the afternoon will include other invited participants to discuss general measurement concepts. The policy workshop will be held from Wednesday, 5 February to Friday, 7 February and is open to all participants.The main aim of the joint measurement workshop and the expert group meeting will be threefold: * Discuss applied methodologies to measure tax and commercial IFFs, share results and lessons learnt. * Develop a suitable framework for identifying policies in a standard format for African countries but reflecting national priorities. * Ascertain the framework through an expert-led review.
Source: ESCAP SIAP (Data extracted on: 27 Nov 2024 )
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Organizer(s): ESCAP SIAP UNODC-KOSTAT UN-WOMEN
Description: This regional training introduces crime statistics from a gender perspective to produce reliable indicators to monitor the relevant SDGs (SDGs 5 and 16). The training provides an opportunity for participants to learn about gender concepts and frameworks on SDG indicators relevant to crime and criminal justice statistics including gender-based SDG targetswith the overall aim of strengthening regional capacity in producing high-quality SDG indicator data and overall statisticsto inform policy decisions at national and international levels.
Description: Body The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) are co-custodians of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 16.4.1 on the “total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows”. UNCTAD, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), has implemented a UN Development Account project from 2018 to 2022 on “Defining, estimating and disseminating statistics on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs)”, in 11 countries on the African continent, including Ghana, Namibia, and Zambia. The project focused on developing a statistical methodology to estimate IFFs and resulted in the finalisation of the UNCTAD-UNODC IFF Conceptual Framework in 2020 and the UNCTAD Methodological Guidelines in 2021, to measure tax and commercial IFFs, and tested by all pioneering countries. The project and related guidelines supported the countries to assess the types of IFFs relevant to their national contexts. Countries pilot tested between one and three of the methods to measure different types of IFFs, including trade misinvoicing, profit shifting and offshore wealth. In parallel, UNCTAD Africa, Least Developed Countries (ALDC) Division was focusing on strengthening research and data analysis skills in selected pioneering countries and developing targeted policy measures linked to specific IFF activities. These pioneering countries have paved the way for the approach to measure IFFs, providing a wealth of knowledge, lessons learned and resources such as terms of references, tools and guidelines. At the end of the project, more work was necessary to confirm the preliminary estimates and extend them to other types of IFFs towards reporting data on the Global SDGs Indicator Database for 16.4.1. At half-way point through the 2030 Agenda and in the conditions of compounding crises, it is more urgent than ever to pursue SDG target 16.4 to significantly reduce illicit financial (and arms) flows by 2030, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime. The new project proposes to refine preliminary estimates, to pilot test new methodologies and report results on the Global SDGs Database, as well as to link estimates with policy formulation and action. Objectives The objectives of the online regional workshop are as follow: Kick-off the project and introducing the different entities; Present the project components, objectives, activities and timeline; Countries share expectations on measurement and policy pillars, confirming their national objectives. Participants UNCTAD Statistics; UNCTAD ALDC; Ghana Statistical Service; Bank of Namibia; Zambia Statistics Agency; other relevant national institutions in countries; ECA (tbc); UN Regional Coordinator Offices (tbc).
Jointly organized by the Statistics Division and Division of Inclusive Social Development, DESA, the side event aims to explore the impact of citizen engagement across the data value chain, for highlighting social issues, shaping policy, and driving change, particularly in marginalized and underrepresented communities. The event will also provide a comprehensive overview of the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen data, a major effort initiated by the UN Statistics Division with its partners within the Collaborative on Citizen Data, to harness the power of citizen-generated data to foster social justice and reduce inequality. The event will also call on partners to join the effort to implementing the Framework.
Description: UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020.1 The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. In parallel, custodian agencies have drafted methodologies to measure various types of IFFs. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime-related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries many of which produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing. During the first quarter of the year 2023, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.12. Following up with these efforts, the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows3 aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries across regions to produce standardized estimates of illicit financial flows and enhance investigative and analytical capacities to develop evidence -based policy responses to monitor and curb illicit financial flows. This meeting will launch activities of the project and is organised with three specific objectives: * To kick-off the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows globally with partners and participating countries; and strengthen stakeholder engagement and coordination. * To enhance capacity on the methodologies to measure SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs and implementation of policy measures to curbing these flows by disseminating globally agreed concepts and methods to measure IFFs and providing examples from different regions. * Allow participating countries to share their experiences and learn. Targeted participants of the international kick-off meeting are national and international stakeholders within the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows. 1 https://unctad.org/publication/conceptual-framework-statistical-measurement-illicit-financial-flows 2 Selecting data series to reflect SDG indicator 16.4.1 on SDG Indicators Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database returns Indicator 16.4.1 series: Total value of inward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_IN) and Total value of outward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_OUT). 3 https://unctad.org/project/measuring-and-curbing-illicit-financial-flows
Description: Body UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020.1 The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. In parallel, custodian agencies have drafted methodologies to measure various types of IFFs. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime-related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries many of which produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing. During the first quarter of the year 2023, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.12. Following up with these efforts, the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows3 aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries across regions to produce standardized estimates of illicit financial flows and enhance investigative and analytical capacities to develop evidence -based policy responses to monitor and curb illicit financial flows. This workshop is organised with three specific objectives: * To kick-off the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows globally and bring partners and participating countries to the similar level of understanding of the project and strengthen stakeholder engagement and coordination. * To enhance the capacity of countries on understanding the methodologies developed by custodian agencies and regional commissions to measure SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs, and support countries in formulating relevant policy responses and providing examples from different regions. * Provide participating countries opportunities to share their experiences and learn. Targeted participants of the international kick-off meeting are national and international stakeholders within the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows. 1 https://unctad.org/publication/conceptual-framework-statistical-measurement-illicit-financial-flows 2 Selecting data series to reflect SDG indicator 16.4.1 on SDG Indicators Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database returns Indicator 16.4.1 series: Total value of inward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_IN) and Total value of outward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_OUT). 3 https://unctad.org/project/measuring-and-curbing-illicit-financial-flows
Course Language: English , French , Spanish , Russian , Arabic
Description: Information: A workshop designed to enhance understanding of internationally agreed methods for measuring illicit financial flows by national experts responsible for SDG 16. Report of the training workshop List of participants Concept note Programme Information note for participants The workshop’s objectives: Raise awareness of existing methodologies for estimating illicit financial flows in Central Asia Enhance the understanding of different methods for measuring illicit financial flows Build the capacity to identify and apply appropriate methods that best fits the estimation of illicit financial flows in their participants’ respective countries Share experiences of setting up systems to compile illicit financial flows data References: Methodological guidelines to measure tax and commercial illicit financial flows. Conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows. Estimating illicit financial flows from trade mis-invoicing : introducing the ‘Grey Re-exports’ method (The case of Kyrgyzstan). Previous training workshops: Final Workshop of Project on Statistics and Data for Measuring Illicit Financial Flows in the Asia-Pacific Region, 7-8 December, 2022. Interregional training workshop on the statistical measurement of tax and commercial illicit financial flows (IFFs), 6-13 December 2021. Previous Stats Café: Progress on Estimating Illicit Financial Flows – Lessons from the Asia-Pacific Region, 26 September 2022. Estimating the size of illicit financial flows: Strengthening national capacity to monitor SDG target 16.4, 22 September 2020. Информация: Целью семинара является углубление понимания утвержденных на международном уровне методов измерения незаконных финансовых потоков национальными экспертами, ответственными за ЦУР 16. Программа Информационная записка Задачи семинара: Ознакомить участников с существующими методами оценки незаконных финансовых потоков. Углубить понимание различных методов измерения незаконных финансовых потоков. Нарастить потенциал выбора и применения соответствующих методов оценки незаконных финансовых потоков в странах участников. Поделиться опытом создания систем сбора данных о незаконных финансовых потоках. Использованная литература: Методические рекомендации по измерению налоговых и коммерческих незаконных финансовых потоков. Концептуальные основы статистического измерения незаконных финансовых потоков. Оценка незаконных финансовых потоков от торговли: внедрение метода «серого реэкспорта» (на примере Кыргызской Республики). Предыдущие обучающие семинары: Заключительный семинар проекта «Статистика и данные для измерения незаконных финансовых потоков в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе», 7–8 декабря 2022 г. Межрегиональный обучающий семинар по статистическому измерению налоговых и коммерческих незаконных финансовых потоков (НФП), 6–13 декабря 2021 г. Статс-кафе: Прогресс в оценке незаконных финансовых потоков – уроки Азиатско-Тихоокеанского региона,, 26 сентября 2022 г. Оценка объёма незаконных финансовых потоков: укрепление национального потенциала для мониторинга задачи 16.4 ЦУР, 22 сентября 2020 г.
Description: After extensive consultations, the final draft of the Statistical Framework was submitted to the fifty-fourth session of the UN Statistical Commission in early 2023. The Commission welcomed it as a statistically robust framework to measure the phenomenon of corruption. It also encouraged UNODC to provide technical support to implement the framework, as necessary and subject to the availability of resources, and invited national statistical offices to take an active role and collaborate with other relevant national institutions, civil society and academia in the implementation of the statistical framework for measuring corruption. In this context, the Praia City Group, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico (INEGI) and UNODC, supported by the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence in Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice organizes this webinar to present the framework and discuss experiences and challenges to implement it.
Description: The event will take place virtually on on 27 June 2023: (New York: 6:00-7:30), (Santiago: 6:00-7:30), (Bangkok: 17:00-18:30), (Addis Ababa: 13:00-14:30), (Beirut: 13:00-14:30), (Geneva: 12:00-13:30), (Vienna: 12:00-13:30). The webinar is co-organized by ESCAP, ECA, ECLAC, ESCWA, UNODC and UNCTAD. Please register here Link to the Regional webinar once it's time: here Concept note It will showcase success stories in the measurement of IFFs and share key lessons that are critical to regularizing the production of data on SDG 16.4.1 and how they can be applied and used in national policies. It will also provide a forum that will raise awareness on the upcoming activities of the DA15 project on illicit financial flows that will officially kick off in September 2023 with a seminar in Geneva. The webinar's objectives: Raise awareness on the DA15 project, its expected objectives and impacts; Secure buy-in and collaboration agreement from national statisticians, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders; Share current lessons and experiences in measuring IFFs and how they can feed into the DA15 project; Inform national stakeholders about the upcoming Kick-off workshop in September and their potential representations. Inform national stakeholders about the upcoming Kick-off workshop in September and their potential representations.
Description: I intend to connect two topics: statistics disinformation (fake news phenomena) and critical education. For that, I will work on three papers which bring results of our research and were published recently. "Fake News Phenomenon: Formation of Beliefs under Pragmatic Optics and Mathematical Education"; “O raciocínio de professores de matemática sobre amostragem e argumentos persuasivos nas redes sociais [Mathematics teachers' reasoning about sampling and persuasive arguments on social media]”; and “Creative insubordination in statistics teaching: Possibilities to go beyond statistical literacy”. What connects the three investigations is the aim of understanding the role of mathematics and statistics education in the process of strengthening democracy. Examples of how Statistics education may assist students to develop their identities and engage in problems and social contexts that assist in empowering them to act politically in the future will be discussed.
Description: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the indicator framework for the monitoring of progress towards SDGs with indicator 16.4.1 on the “total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in United States dollars)” selected as one of two indicators to measure progress towards target 16.4 to “significantly reduce illicit financial (and arms) flows by 2030, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime”. UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020. The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries that have produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing, and a global effort by all UN regional commissions and the custodian agencies starts in 2023. During the first quarter of the year, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.1. On 7 December 2022, a resolution A/RES/77/154 by the 2nd Committee of the General Assembly on IFFs recognized the significant progress and availability of concepts and tested methods to measure IFFs and encouraged “all Member States to report on Sustainable Development Goal indicator 16.4.1, using the methodology adopted by the Statistical Commission, and called upon the United Nations system entities, international organizations and donors to work in coordination with the custodian agencies to train national statistical offices and other entities in charge of reporting on illicit financial flows on these agreed methods”. Building on this, further work is ongoing on designing appropriate policy actions to identify and address IFFs to achieve sustainable development for all. The side event, co-organized by UNCTAD, ECA and ESCAP will showcase success stories in the measurement of tax and commercial IFFs and share key lessons that are critical to regularizing the production of data on SDG 16.4.1 and how it can support policy actions. Conceptual and methodological work, both in measurement and policy formulation, will be presented by the UN, and the successes and lessons will be presented by two pioneering country experts.
Description: Body The United Nations General Assembly adopted the indicator framework for the monitoring of progress towards SDGs with indicator 16.4.1 on the “total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (in United States dollars)” selected as one of two indicators to measure progress towards target 16.4 to “significantly reduce illicit financial (and arms) flows by 2030, strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets and combat all forms of organized crime”. UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020. The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries that have produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing, and a global effort by all UN regional commissions and the custodian agencies starts in 2023. During the first quarter of the year, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.1. On 7 December 2022, a resolution A/RES/77/154 by the 2nd Committee of the General Assembly on IFFs recognized the significant progress and availability of concepts and tested methods to measure IFFs and encouraged “all Member States to report on Sustainable Development Goal indicator 16.4.1, using the methodology adopted by the Statistical Commission, and called upon the United Nations system entities, international organizations and donors to work in coordination with the custodian agencies to train national statistical offices and other entities in charge of reporting on illicit financial flows on these agreed methods”. Building on this, further work is ongoing on designing appropriate policy actions to identify and address IFFs to achieve sustainable development for all. The side event, co-organized by UNCTAD, ECA and ESCAP will showcase success stories in the measurement of tax and commercial IFFs and share key lessons that are critical to regularizing the production of data on SDG 16.4.1 and how it can support policy actions. Conceptual and methodological work, both in measurement and policy formulation, will be presented by the UN, and the successes and lessons will be presented by two pioneering country experts.
Description: The side-event was organized by UNODC. UNSD was asked to present on Modalities of data sharing arrangements around use of administrative data. The side event discussed how to harness administrative data for crime and criminal justice statistics. Law enforcement, courts, prosecution offices, prison administrations, customs authorities and other actors involved in the criminal justice sector all collect, or have the opportunity to collect, large swaths of administrative data that can assist in improving our understanding of the dynamics of (transnational) crime and the effectiveness of operations. For this administrative data to be suitable for statistical purposes, however, it is vital that statistical concepts and methodologies are applied consistently to ensure data comparability. The webinar also included presentations from countries on their experience in using administrative data for crime and criminal justice statistics as well as presentation from international agencies on some tools at the disposal of countries to facilitate its work. UNSD has added the webinar to the pages of the Collaborative on administrative data here.
Description: The side event, co-organized by ESCAP UNODC UNCTAD and ECA will showcase success stories in the measurement of IFFs and share key lessons that are critical to regularizing the production of data on SDG 16.4.1. The successes and lessons will be presented by country experts. On 16 November 2022, a resolution by the 2nd Committee of the General Assembly on illicit financial flows recognized the significant progress and availability of concepts and tested methods to measure illicit financial flows and encouraged “all Member States to report on Sustainable Development Goal indicator 16.4.1, using the methodology adopted by the Statistical Commission, and called upon the United Nations system entities, international organizations and donors to work in coordination with the custodian agencies to train national statistical offices and other entities in charge of reporting on illicit financial flows on these agreed methods”.
Description: In 2020, UNODC, ESCAP, UNCTAD, UNODC ROSEAP, inaugurated a new Development Account project called “Statistics and data for measuring illicit financial flows in the Asia-Pacific region”. The project aimed at consolidating existing and testing new methodological guidelines for the measurement of Indicator 16.4.1 “Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (IFFs)”, as well as to build and strengthen statistical capacity by providing technical assistance and guidance to pilot countries for the measurement of such indicator. An UNCTAD/UNODC Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows was published in October 2020, and in June 2021, UNCTAD published Methodological Guidelines to Measure Tax and Commercial IFFs for pilot testing, while UNODC is measuring crime related IFFs. Pilot testing has been ongoing in 2021-2022 of the UNCTAD Guidelines in two countries, namely, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and crime related IFFs were tested in Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal by UNODC. A hybrid final workshop of the project is being organized to discuss the implementation of activities IFFs in the six Asian countries. The meeting objectives are: * Report on improved statistical capacity to measure illicit financial flows; * Report the estimates of the illicit financial flows; * Share experiences and best practices among the pilot countries within the region; * Facilitate continuation of measurement by national statistical offices and national agencies; * Disseminate testing guidelines (both crime-related and tax and commercial) which were updated as a result of this pilot testing round; * Discuss future work, interregional cooperation, and policy implications for measuring illicit financial flows
Description: Body The United Nations integrated SDGs Financing project for Egypt (INFF) aims to develop capacities and put in place simple systems to continuously measure, map and compare financing flows. An important element of this project is identifying financing opportunities, through the better availability and quality of data, in particular data on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). IFFs threaten countries’ ability to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by diverting resources from development. The meeting of Expert group on IFFs aims to: * Present and review the work in each of the workstreams on measurement of IFFs in Egypt: trade misinvoicing, profit shifting, and smuggling of drugs; * Discuss and plan further work on the methodologies to address IFFs in Egypt; and * Discuss further involvement and coverage of other aspects of IFFs by other members of Expert group on IFFs in Egypt. Targeted participants of the meeting are members of national Expert Group for statistical measurement of IFFs in Egypt.
Description: About the session This Stats Café session provided an update on the Illicit Financial Flows pilot in the Asia-Pacific region. The pilot project “Measuring Illicit Financial Flows in Asia-Pacific” was launched in July 2020, with project partners UNODC, UNCTAD and ESCAP, and is set to finish in December 2022. ESCAP serves as implementing partner for Measuring Illicit Financial Flows from tax and commercial activities and coordinated with pilot countries Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The session included an overview of the pilot project and provided updates and preliminary results on the methods used to measure illicit financial flows in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the methods applied are those in the “Methodological guidelines to measure tax and commercial illicit financial flows – Methods for pilot testing” published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). These methods are Partner Country Method (PCM), Price Filter Method (PFM), Profit shifting by Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and (joint foreign flows of offshore financial capital by country. In Kyrgyzstan, the pilot team tested an additional method of measuring illicit financial flows related to “grey re-exports.” “Grey exports” refer to either misreported re-exports or unreported re-exports. Testing these illicit financial flows was suggested by the national working group in Kyrgyzstan, based on the prevalence of grey re-exports in Kyrgyzstan. This method will be presented at the Stats Café session by the Kyrgyz national consultant. The results of testing the methods will contribute towards possible improvements to the UNCTAD methodological guide for future work on measuring illicit financial flows. A plan is proposed to conduct similar projects to measure illicit financial flows in present pilot countries, and additional interested countries in future. The Stats Café session will also discuss progress in measuring Illicit financial flows in other pilots and plans for further work globally and relevant policy implications and decisions. The Session was structured as follows: Overview of “Measuring Illicit Financial Flows in Asia-Pacific” by ESCAP Statistics Division (SD) The ESCAP SD presentation will outline the experience of conducting pilot studies in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and estimating illicit financial flows in these countries. The presentation will discuss the occurrences of illicit tax and commercial activity in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, data available to measure the flows, the experience of assessing data and formulating the pilot testing plan and the challenges and considerations of testing and measuring. Preliminary results are available and will be discussed in this presentation. Presentation from the Kyrgyz consultant on grey re-exports, and the experience of testing and measuring grey re-exports in Kyrgyzstan. Discussion from UNCTAD on the progress in measuring illicit financial flows in other pilot countries and the future of measuring Illicit Financial Flows, the effects of illicit financial flows on the economy and society, and policy implications. , Stats Café Home: Upcoming events Concluded events in 2022 2021 events 2020 events
Organizer(s): UNCTAD Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade
Description: Body Following the inclusion of illicit trade as the only new area of work in the outcome document of UNCTAD15, the Bridgetown Covenant, UNCTAD will host the second iteration of the Illicit Trade Forum on 6-7 September 2022. The event is organised in collaboration with the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT). Theevent is structured as four main sessions, with interactive panel discussions addressing key issues: illicit trade in times of crisis; mitigating illicit trade through maritime transport; trade in falsified medicines; and illicit financial flows related to trade, tax, and criminal activities. The meeting will enable the sharing of best practices, case studies and policy approaches, and will involve a wide range of stakeholders, including member States and representatives from international governmental and nongovernmental organisations, academia and the private sector. Session on Illicit financial flows related to trade, tax, and criminal activities: For the SDG indicator framework, illicit financial flows (IFFs) are defined as financial flows that are illicit in origin, transfer or use, that reflect an exchange of value and that cross country borders. The definition comes from the Conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows, developed by UNCTAD and UNODC in consultation with a global Task Force and approved in March 2022 by the UN Statistical Commission. IFFs cover a wide range of different activities, including flows related to drug markets, terrorist financing, trade misinvoicing, aggressive tax avoidance etc. They drain resources and limit countries’ capacity to recover from the pandemic and achieve the 2030 Agenda. In June 2021, UNCTAD published Methodological guidelines to measure tax and commercial IFFs for pilot testing, following deliberations with the global Task Force. The methods will be refined based on feedback from pilots which took place in 2022 in Africa and Asia, and from 2023 any country can join the efforts of a global UN Development Account project to measure and curb IFFs applying methods and tools tested by pilot countries. This session will invite representatives from stakeholders involved in African pilot countries to share their experience on the measurement of IFFs related to trade. The session mainly targets representatives from customs and revenue authorities, central banks, financial intelligence units, anti-corruption agencies, criminal justice bodies and national statistics offices. Opening remarks will be given by Ms. Anu Peltola (UNCTAD). This will be followed by brief introductions to the measurement of IFFs by Mr. Gamal Ibrahim (ECA), Ms. Diana Camerini (UNODC) and Mr. Bojan Nastav (UNCTAD), covering also future plans. Then, panellists will present regional or countries’ experience in measuring IFFs by Ms. Kathy Nicolaou (ECA), Ms. Anastasia Maga (ESCAP), Mr. Joseph Tembo (Zambia) and Ms. Lauraine Habib (Egypt).
Course Language: English , French , Spanish , Chinese , Russian , Arabic
Source: ESCAP SIAP (Data extracted on: 13 Feb 2023 )
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Organizer(s): UNODC KOSTAT Korea ESCAP SIAP
Description: The online course on crime statistics from a gender perspective will highlight basic conceptsmethods and frameworks required to compile crime statistics in relation to gender and provide knowledge on the challenges and opportunities of working with different types of data sources (administrative datasample surveys).
Description: Custodian agencies of SDG indicator 16.4.1, “Total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows (IFFs), in current United States dollars”, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), released a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in October 2020. In May 2021, UNCTAD finalized a draft of Methodological Guidelines to Measure Tax and Commercial IFFs for pilot testing, aimed at statistical and other national authorities with a mandate to collect and access relevant information. UNODC are finalising the Guidelines to measure IFFs from extractive activities and illegal drugs markets. After a call for expression of interest in Africa in February 2021, the following countries participate in pilot testing of the measurement of IFFs: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. A kick-off workshop with national experts and stakeholders from institutions and agencies in African pilot countries is being organized to present and discuss implementation of activities related to the measurement of IFFs in Africa; introduce the participants to the concepts and definition of IFFs as included in the UNCTAD-UNODC Conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of IFF; and present the methodologies and guidelines developed so far by UNCTAD and UNODC. The expected outcome of the meeting is to get a clear understanding of country needs, data gaps and steps needed to pilot the new IFFs methodology. 16th June 2021 17th June 2021
Description: Body As custodian agencies of SDG Indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows, in 2020 UNODC and UNCTAD, together with ESCAP, inaugurated a new Development Account project called “Statistics and data for measuring illicit financial flows in the Asia-Pacific region”. The project is aimed at consolidating existing and testing new methodological guidelines for the measurement of this Indicator, as well as to build statistical capacity by providing technical assistance and guidance to pilot countries for the measurement of such indicator using the defined standards and concepts developed by UNCTAD and UNODC. After launching a call for expression of interest in Asia-Pacific region, the Partner Agencies selected six countries of Asia as pilot testing countries. These are Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, focusing on crime-related illicit financial flows; and Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, focusing on IFFs from illicit tax-related and commercial practices. The online Kick-off Workshop is structured around a general session and two breakout rooms - one room focusing on methodological guidelines and practical examples on measuring IFFs from crime and illegal market activities; and another breakout room focusing on illicit financial flows from illicit-tax related commercial practices. The meeting gathering experts and stakeholders from institutions and agencies of all pilot countries, provides the opportunity to present the UNCTAD-UNODC Conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows (available in French, Spanish and Russian); introduce the methodologies and guidelines developed so far by UNODC and UNCTAD and discuss the project implementation strategy and workplan.
Description: Body Illicit financial flows (IFFs) threaten countries’ ability to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Policy action to curb IFFs requires better data and better understanding of IFFs. As an illicit phenomenon, IFFs are not easy to track or measure. National statistical authorities have an important role in measuring IFFs in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The event is organised by UNECA, jointly with UNCTAD and UNODC, custodians of SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs. The online workshop will introduce the newly released UNCTAD-UNODC Conceptual Framework (2020) and UNCTAD Methodological Guidelines to Measure Tax and Commercial IFFs (upcoming in 2021). African countries will be invited to express their interest in joining the pilot testing of the methods. Successful measurement of IFFs requires collaboration across disciplines as illicit phenomena cut across society and data remain highly scattered. Therefore, the relevant government agencies and Ministries, and especially the National Statistical Office, Customs and Revenue Office, Tax authority, Central Banks and Financial Intelligence Centers are invited to participate in the online workshop. The project seeks to empower the United Nations Member States to estimate IFFs in line with national priorities by supporting the statistical system to acquire the technical knowledge to launch the statistical measurement of IFFs. More information on the project can be found here. French documents will be added as they become available.
