Bangkok (Thailand), 9-11 July 2024 - The UNODC-KOSTAT Centre of Excellence for Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice in Asia and the Pacific (CoE) organized the Fourth Regional Meeting on Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics in Asia and the Pacific from July 9 to 11, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was hosted by the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) and jointly organized with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice (KICJ), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
The meeting brought together approximately 100 experts, policymakers, and practitioners from national statistical offices, law enforcement agencies, academia, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector. Notably, representatives from 19 countries participated in the sessions and shared their national experiences in producing and managing crime and criminal justice statistics and measuring various types of crime: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
This Fourth Regional Meeting, the first since the Covid-19 pandemic, followed previous regional meetings held in 2014, 2016, and 2019, and two regional trainings on Crime Victimization Surveys (CVS) and the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) in 2017. As a regional platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience, this meeting featured eight plenary sessions with over 50 speakers and moderators, as well as two group discussion sessions with all participants. The objectives of the meeting were to:
The meeting commenced with remarks from Dr. Phiset Sa-ardyen, Executive Director of the TIJ, who emphasized the importance of knowledge exchange and building a robust network. Jonghee Choi, Coordinator of the CoE, highlighted the event as a valuable platform for strengthening the regional network on crime and criminal justice statistics. She underscored the need for active collaboration across countries to address emerging challenges and evolving crimes. Tae-hoon Ha, President of KICJ, underlined the significance of crime statistics and the value of international discourse on this topic. Masood Karimipour, Regional Representative of the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ROSEAP), encouraged open and honest discussions in a non-judgmental environment, stressing the critical role of data in convincing stakeholders. Rachael Beaven, Director of the Statistical Division of UNESCAP, praised the diverse representation and discussed the challenges of measuring Sustainable Development Goals, with a specific focus on Goal 16.
The first day centered on recent progress and priorities in crime and criminal justice statistics. Jonghee Choi opened the first session by introducing the UNODC-KOSTAT CoE and encouraging the Member States present to collaborate with the CoE. Key findings from the pre-meeting survey, which aimed to better understand the status of national crime and criminal justice statistics in the region and optimize technical capacity-building efforts, were also presented. UNODC provided an overview of the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) and its upcoming manual, along with a series of Guidelines for the Production of Statistical Data in the Criminal Justice System (police, prosecution services and courts, prison system, and governance). Japan, VietNam, the Maldives, Fiji, Malaysia, China, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Bhutan were invited to share their national crime and criminal justice statistics system and their experiences in developing national crime classifications aligned with the ICCS.
The second day addressed various topics, including gender-based violence (GBV), trafficking in persons (TIP), corruption, illicit financial flows (IFFs), and cybercrime. International standards to measure such crimes were introduced by experts: CoE on the ‘Statistical Framework for Measuring the Gender-related Killing of Women and Girls (also referred to as femicide/feminicide), UNFPA on ‘Prevalence of GBV through surveys’, UNODC on ‘International Classification of Crime for Trafficking in Person’ and CoE on ‘Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows’. Thailand, Pakistan, Nepal, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, and BitDefender shared their experiences in measuring these various types of crime. The day concluded with a World Café session, where all participants discussed major challenges and lessons learned in their respective countries. They also provided detailed needs for support from international and regional organizations.
On the final day, a session on Crime Victimization Survey highlighted the critical role of survey-generated data in capturing the dark figure of crime. The Republic of Korea and Mongolia shared their national experiences in conducting crime victimization surveys and their key findings. This was followed by the CoE’s presentation on existing methodologies and guidelines. During the session, a proposal for regional collaboration to develop a common crime victimization survey questionnaire for the Asia-Pacific Region was discussed and received a positive response. Additionally, the use and dissemination of crime and criminal justice data were shared by the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Bhutan, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. A presentation on the United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice System (UN-CTS) promoted the need for comparable data collection and crime measurement at both the international and regional levels, encouraging countries to ensure timely submission of UN-CTS data.
The participants actively engaged in the sessions and reiterated the importance of continuing these meetings regularly. The CoE acknowledged the increasing demand and interest from countries to enhance the availability and quality of their national statistical systems and the data they produce. The CoE will continue to play a pivotal role as the regional hub by implementing the proposed activities and providing technical assistance for the implementation of the ICCS, CVS, the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Gender-related Killing of Women and Girls, ICS-TiP, and the submission of the UN-CTS.
Further information on the CoE can be found here, X @CoE_UNODC and Facebook @UNODC.KOSTAT.CoE.
