The UNODC, through the UNODC INEGI Center of Excellence, continues to set the standard for the improvement of crime and criminal justice statistics at the international level
The last decade has seen important advances in the development and implementation of standards and methodologies to improve the quality and availability of crime and criminal justice statistics at the international level, according to the Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico on crime and criminal justice statistics presented to the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC).
Gradually, more countries have begun to adopt the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) generating coordinated work between national statistical offices and institutions of the criminal justice system in order to apply the classification to harmonize the statistics generated from administrative records of authorities such as police, prosecutors and ministries of justice that normally use different concepts, variables and methodologies.
On the other hand, the number of countries that have carried out national crime victimization surveys has increased, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, thanks also to the continuous provision of technical assistance by the UNODC INEGI Center of Excellence, which has made it possible to have extensive information on the hidden figure of crime, the causes of non-reporting, the perceptions and experiences of victimization of the population, as well as other fundamental data to guide prevention and security policies in the region.
However, there is much to be done to continue strengthening the statistical systems of crime and criminal justice, which is why at the 53rd session of the Statistical Commission, UNODC presented new methodological tools, such as the new conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows developed jointly with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the statistical framework for measuring gender-related killings of women and girls (also called “feminicide/femicide”) developed jointly with UN Women, as well as the joint initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the United Nations Development Program ( UNDP) on survey modules for Sustainable Development Goal 16, recognizing that the mentioned survey serves to complete some Goal 16 indicators and does not replace stand-alone national surveys on victimization, corruption, and violence against women.
Established in 1947, the Commission brings together the statistical authorities of the Member States in the highest decision-making body for international activities related to statistics. The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and is a Functional Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
More than 20 countries supported the report presented by UNODC and INEGI, including Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Egypt, Gambia on behalf of Africa, Greece, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palestine, Poland, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, the United States of America, as well as two international organizations: UN Women and OHCHR.
Without comprehensive and quality empirical evidence, it is almost impossible to make targeted decisions to prevent violence and crime, as well as monitor their effectiveness. The work of more than a decade of the UNODC INEGI Center of Excellence to support the generation and improvement of crime and criminal justice statistics, through technical assistance, training and methodological development materializes the UNODC mandate to support countries to have better statistics on violence, delinquency, organized crime, corruption, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, firearms and cybercrime, among others.
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