Central Asian Specialists Come Together to Enhance Crime-Related Data Collection

4-7 December 2018, Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Operative and professional approach of the law enforcement agencies to responding and preventing crime, and ensuring criminal justice is not the only element of sustainable and peaceful development. Data collection and monitoring of indicators on violence, access to justice, and corruption under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels" makes it possible to explain the trends, predict tendencies, and develop effective strategies on crime prevention. The Regional Workshop on strengthening national capacity on producing, collecting and reporting crime-related data in Central Asia was one of the events organized by the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia aiming to contribute to improving crime-related data collection in the region.

" UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia places high emphasis on improving national capacity in data collection, analysis and reporting. We assist Central Asian countries understand thematic and cross-cutting issues so that they can formulate effective national policies and implement evidence based operational responses to counter drugs, crime and security related challenges." - said Ms. Ashita Mittal, UNODC Regional Representative for Central Asia.

" Let me reconfirm our strong commitment to cooperate with you and support you in improving research and analytical capacity in Central Asia to enhance effectiveness of our collective response to drugs and crime-related challenges at national, regional and international levels." - she added.

About 30 law enforcement officers from the ministries of justice, interior, and general prosecutor offices and statistics specialists from the Central Asian states came together to get familiarized with international reporting through the annual United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and Operations of the Criminal Justice System (UN-CTS).

" The course aims to raise awareness about the importance of establishing and applying common statistical concepts on crime and criminal justice data and provides guidance on the implementation of the ICCS across institutions and jurisdictions. The course will also use concrete examples and exercises to discuss practical aspects of planning and implementing a 'road map' for the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) implementation and for mapping national crime categories into the international framework. So, we target to standardize crime statistics and raise the response rate from countries in the region." - explained Mr. Michael Jandl, UNODC Research Officer at the Data Development and Dissemination Unit, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Olimjon Nabiyev, Chief of International Relations Division, General Prosecutor Office of Uzbekistan, noted that " the meeting is a great opportunity to discuss a wide spectrum of cooperation, common challenges and possible solutions in the field between the Central Asian states."

To enhance the quality, consistency and international comparability of data on crime and criminal justice and to improve analytical capabilities at both the national and international levels, in 2015 the United Nations Statistical Commission and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice endorsed the the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) as an international statistical standard for data collection. It provides a framework for the systematic production and comparison of statistical data across different criminal justice institutions and jurisdictions. This means that the ICCS is applicable to all forms of crime data, whatever the stage of the criminal justice process (police, prosecution, conviction, imprisonment) at which they are collected, as well as to data collected in crime victimization surveys.

The regional workshop was organized within the framework of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2015-2019, Sub-Programme 4 "Research and Trend Analysis". The event was funded by the U.S. State Department Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

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