Daejeon (Republic of Korea), 22 August 2019 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Korea Statistics (KOSTAT) opened a joint Centre of Excellence for Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice in Asia and the Pacific during a related Symposium on 20 to 21 August in Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
The Centre of Excellence will provide and organize technical assistance and training activities to support countries in the region to improve statistical methodologies and technical capabilities regarding the production, collection, analysis and dissemination of crime and criminal justice data. This will serve as the basis for evidence-based strategies and policies to achieve related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and targets.
Particular focus will be given to promoting, adopting and implementing the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS), and increasing the availability and quality of data required to monitor relevant SDGs in the areas of crime, violence, access to justice, corruption and the rule of law.
Jean-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC Director for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs recalled that "Countries of the Asia-Pacific region have great challenges in producing and disseminating data on several targets of SDG 16." This regional knowledge hub, Mr. Lemahieu said, "will offer assistance to national institutions in producing accurate, accessible and transparent statistical data to understand trends and patterns in crime and violence, access to justice, rule of law and corruption."
The opening of the Centre was celebrated by Mr. Shin-Wook Kang, Commissioner of KOSTAT, and it was attended by representatives from the UNODC Research and Trends Analysis Branch, the UNODC Regional Office for South East Asia and the Pacific, the UNODC-IENGI Centre of Excellence on crime statistics, alongside a host of other regional and international experts.
UNODC-KOSTAT Centre of Excellence
International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS)
