UNODC supports Uzbek national authorities in measuring illicit financial flows

The 2030 Agenda clearly identifies the reduction of Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) as a priority area, as reflected in Target 16.4 which aims to significantly reduce illicit financial flows. These flows pose a global threat because the proceeds of crime can be moved from one country to another to disguise their origin, usually by moving them offshore, often to safe havens, for the purpose of laundering and sometimes for reuse for illicit purposes. For example, illicit financial flows and related proceeds can directly fuel terrorist activities, so it is important to ensure that national institutions can estimate their size and monitor their trends over time.

In addition, illicit financial flows weaken state institutions by facilitating organized crime and corruption, which undermine the rule of law and the justice system. They also divert resources that are desperately needed to provide essential services threatening countries’ ability to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

As co-custodian of SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs, UNODC - in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)- has worked to establish globally agreed statistical concepts and methodologies to measure IFFs. These methodologies have been piloted to measure IFFs from both selected criminal activities (UNODC) and illicit tax and trade practices (UNCTAD). Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru participated in the pilots and produced their first official estimates, and first ever data on crime-related IFFs.

More recently, both UN agencies in collaboration with UN Regional Commissions, have assisted other countries in Africa, and Asia to measure illicit financial flows.

The starting point for measuring illicit financial flows is to shed light on the activities, sectors and channels most affected by illicit finance, and to indicate where action should be taken as a priority to curb these flows and activities.

In this regard, the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA), with the support of the UNODC Research and Analysis Branch based in Vienna, Austria, the UNODC Information Centre based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and the UNODC KOSTAT Centre of Excellence for Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice in Asia and the Pacific based in Daejon, South Korea organized a workshop on the measurement of illicit financial flows on 22 February 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

This workshop was jointly organized with the Law Enforcement Academy of the Republic of Uzbekistan and was attended by participants from diverse national institutions including the Law Enforcement Academy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Customs Committee, Department for Combating Economic Crimes and the AIDS Center.

The focus of this session was to review the main concepts of the statistical framework for measuring illicit financial flows from illicit markets, the different types of illicit financial flows, the actors involved and the data that is needed to produce estimates of drug trafficking. Participants were also provided with examples of such measurements in the Maldives, Mexico and Peru. The session concluded with a discussion of the roadmap to conducting such measurements in Uzbekistan.