3rd Regional Meeting on Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics

The "Third Regional Meeting on Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics: Towards modern and efficient crime statistics systems" was held in Chengdu, China, from 29 to 31 October. Co-organized by the newly established UNODC-KOSTAT Centre of Excellence on Crime and Criminal Justice statistics, the meeting brought together 50 international, regional, and national experts to review recent progress on crime and criminal justice statistics and identify ways to improve data quality and availability in the Asia and the Pacific region.

A central aim of the meeting was to initiate a dialogue between national agencies working in crime and criminal justice statistics, ensuring a collaborative approach to this issue. The event also provided an opportunity for participants to discuss regional challenges and priorities, specifically related to monitoring progress towards the SDGs. Working groups facilitated exchanges on statistics regarding physical, psychological and sexual violence; physical and sexual harassment; homicide data and; corruption and bribery surveys.

At the conclusion of the meeting 15 participating States agreed on the importance to develop national strategic plans to enhance mechanisms related to crime and criminal justice statistics.

The UNODC-KOSTAT Centre of Excellence will continue to support methodological development through innovation, sharing best practices and developing a strong network of stakeholders for capacity building.