Kick-off meeting of pilot activities for measuring illicit financial flows in Egypt

The United Nations integrated SDGs Financing project for Egypt (INFF) aims to develop capacities and put in place simple systems to continuously measure, map and compare financing flows. An important element of this project is identifying financing opportunities, through the better availability and quality of data, in particular data on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). IFFs threaten countries’ ability to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by diverting resources from development.

Custodian agencies of SDG indicator 16.4.1, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), released Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in October 2020. In May 2021, UNCTAD finalised a draft of Methodological Guidelines to Measure Tax and Commercial IFFs for pilot testing, aimed at statistical and other national authorities with a mandate to collect and access relevant information. UNODC are finalising the Guidelines to measure IFFs from extractive activities and illegal drugs markets.

A national kick-off workshop with national experts and stakeholders from institutions and agencies in Egypt is being organised to introduce the participants to the concepts and definition of illicit financial flows; introduce the methodologies and guidelines and present practical examples and good practices from previous pilot activities; introduce national stakeholders and solicit their presentation of work and views on IFFs in Egypt; and to present and discuss the workplan of implementation of activities and tools.