Colombia promotes a National Crime Classification based on the ICCS

From 9 to 12 July, staff from the Center of Excellence in Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice visited the city of Bogotá at the request of the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) of Colombia, with the aim of promoting the use of the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS).

The ICCS represents the first effort to have a worldwide standardized crime catalogue for statistical purposes, which improves the coherence of crime data within countries and their international comparability. Aware of the relevance of this classification and the advantages of its adoption, the workshop was attended by 40 officials from 35 public institutions that generate and use crime statistics in their daily functions. Among these institutions, those related to the peace process in Colombia, the armed forces, the national police and different institutions of the justice system stood out. The invaluable support of the UNODC Country Office of Colombia was crucial for the workshop, for the activities were held within their premises.

Based on presentations, different ludic dynamics and dialogue with attendees, both DANE and UNODC socialized the contents of the ICCS, and trained attendees in the generation of correspondence tables between the Colombian codes with the International Classification. In addition, as preparation for the upcoming work, a road map was drawn up to hold inter-institutional roundtables headed by DANE and grouped by around each of the initial 11 sections of the Classification. The eventual adoption of the ICCS in the South American country is expected to take place through the adaptation of a National Classification of Crimes for Statistical Purposes. This will allow to have standardized and high quality statistics in order to generate better public policies to fight against crime.

ONU-DANE-85

ONU-DANE-76

ONU-DANE-57

ONU-DANE-46

ONU-DANE-98

ONU-DANE-47