Uruguay adopts the LACSI Initiative to measure safety and victimization
Mexico City, 13 May 2024. As part of the activities of the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence (CoE) to provide technical assistance to countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region to produce and improve their security and justice statistics, personnel from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) of Uruguay visited CoE headquarters in Mexico City to discuss the implementation of a victimization module in its continuous household survey starting in July 2024 and a National Crime Victimization Survey in 2025.
The technical assistance began virtually in March 2024, with working sessions to learn and adopt the LACSI methodology – Latin America and the Caribbean Crime Victimization Survey Initiative (LACSI), the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes ICCS (2015), as well as regional and international information needs aligned to the 2030 Agenda.
The objective of this meeting was to agree on the terms and processes of collaboration for the technical assistance to be provided by the CoE to the National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay during 2024 and 2025. The group also addressed technical and methodological issues such as sample design, the phrasing of questions on perception and victimization, the crimes to be measured, the appropriate respondent, recommendations for fieldwork, among others, to ensure regional and international comparability. All recommendations provided to INE are framed within the methodology of the LACSI Initiative, which is aligned to international recommendations of the United Nations such as the UNODC Manual on Victimization Surveys (2010) and the aforementioned ICCS. Staff from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) was also present during the technical discussions, sharing their experience in the implementation of their National Victimization and Security Perception Survey (ENVIPE) since 2012.
Finally, the CoE highlighted the importance of generating data to measure the progress of the 2030 Agenda, specifically Goals 11 (Inclusive, Safe, Secure, Resilient and Sustainable Cities – indicator 11.7.2) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – indicators 16.1.3, 16.1.4, 16.3.1 and 16.5.1).
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To request technical assistance in the implementation of Crime Victimization Surveys in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, please contact the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence by e-mail:
unodc-mexico.cde.estadistica@un.org
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