Description: 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).
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: 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
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 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: 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: 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
Description: Illicit financial flows from Africa are large and growing. The export of valuable natural resources is often a main source of these flows, whichare not only a drain on domestic financial resources needed for sustainable development but also undermine the stateandgood governance. In this framework the UN Development Account projects onIntegrated National Financing Frameworks(DA-INFF) and Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows (DA-IFF) aim to address the link between domestic resources and illicit financial flows, and how to best measure these flows. The capacity building workshop aims at equipping national stakeholders with the statistical skills necessary to measure SDG 16.4 "Inward and outward illicit financial flows" and assess the impact of illicit financial flows on the government budget, the economy and society. Besides the statistical measurement of SDG indicator 16.4, the workshop aims at providing national stakeholders with an overview of data, algorithms, tools and software to combat illicit financial flows linked to the report of extractive commodities.
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: 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. Custodian agencies of SDG indicator 16.4.1, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), released Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in October 2020. In May 2021, UNCTAD finalised 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. A national kick-off workshop with national experts and stakeholders from institutions and agencies in Egypt is being organised to introduce the participants to the concepts and definition of illicit financial flows; introduce the methodologies and guidelines and present practical examples and good practices from previous pilot activities; introduce national stakeholders and solicit their presentation of work and views on IFFs in Egypt; and to present and discuss the workplan of implementation of activities and tools.
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: 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: 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.
Description: Policy action to curb illicit financial flows and secure resources for sustainable development require better data and better understanding of IFFs. As an illicit phenomenon, IFFs are not easy to track or measure. Common statistical concepts and methods are needed to measure IFFs regularly, and in line with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The session shared the latest progress and a conceptual framework to measure IFFs, and invited African countries to pilot test the measurement of IFFs, jointly with UNECA, UNCTAD and UNODC.
Description: The side-event to the tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime discusses measuring illicit financial flows from illegal markets as well as tax and commercial activities. UNODC and UNCTAD are custodians of SDG indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows and have developed a conceptual framework defining what should be measured under the concept of illicit financial flows. The session shares first results of country pilots carried out in Latin America. Pilots are also being carried out in UNECA and UNESCAP regions. The session informs participants of the new conceptual framework, the results of first pilots, and plans going forward.
Description: >> Call for Expressions of Interest to participate in pilot activities for measuring illicit financial flows for SDG Indicator 16.4.1 (PDF | MS Word) Measuring illicit financial flows is a challenging area of statistics and needs a robust yet practical measurement framework. In this café, we will hear from experts involved in developing an approach that has been successfully piloted in Latin America and is now being piloted in Asia and the Pacific. The café is an inception event for a two-year, $900,000 project to pilot the measurement of illicit financial flows in relation to selected illegal markets and activities. Project owners will share details of the project and invite you to submit an expression of interest to be part of the project. Speakers Mr. Enrico Bisogno, Head, Data Development and Dissemination Section, UNODC HQ. Mr. Steve MacFeely, Chief Statistician, UNCTAD. Ms. Salomé Flores Sierra Franzoni, UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence for Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice. Ms. Gemma Van Halderen, Director, Statistics Division UNESCAP. --------------------- >> See others Asia-Pacific Stats Café series
Description: This is a side-event of Nineteenth meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC. Organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
