Result of Service

Under the overall guidance and supervision of DASS, the consultant is expected to carry out the following activities: 1. Review and organize all the scientific literature related to the scope of the current assignment, providing a thorough overview of the main previous findings on IFFs associated with drug trafficking, particularly along the Balkan route. 2. Use the standard UNODC methodology applied in the last UNODC report about the Balkan route to analyse recent organized crime activities and updated IFFs derived from opiate trafficking, including additional perspectives to describe financial flows associated with illicit income. Additionally, explore the use of the Balkan route for trafficking methamphetamine when possible. 3. Based on qualitative and quantitative information provided by UNODC and additional sources when needed, produce for the Balkan region estimates on: i) drug trafficking flows across countries (including national interception rates); ii) related national illicit income; and iii) flows of illicit income (and if possible estimates of IFFs) and an analysis on how such illicit profits are invested into broader economic sectors whenever data are available. 4. Produce a comprehensive report updating the UNODC report published in 2015 on opiate trafficking along the Balkan route, with additional estimates and analysis on methamphetamine, and on illicit financial flows from opiate and methamphetamine trafficking as much as possible. 5. Ensure a coherent analysis and narrative and the quality of data used to produce the planned estimates follow rigorous scientific procedures that can be replicated by DASS researchers. The consultant will work in close cooperation with technical staff at DASS, who will make efforts to provide the consultant with the most recent data from UNODC on the issues related to this assignment.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

March 2024 – September 2024 (with the possibility of extension)

Duties and Responsibilities

Organized crime and trade in illegal markets generate billions of dollars in illicit flows every year. The proceeds of these crimes may be channeled abroad, laundered, and reinvested in legal markets, with estimates of illicit financial flows (IFFs) related to cross-border drug trafficking being comparable to the value of exports of licit markets. UNODC has developed the conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of IFFs, and since then supported different countries in its implementation for measuring the indicator 16.4.1 (total value of inward and outward illicit financial flows) from the Sustainable Development Goal 16. For instance, in 2015, a UNODC report revealed the magnitude of heroin trafficking along the so-called Balkan route, providing one of the first estimates on the proceeds of organized crime from drug trafficking. Most recently, UNODC has also published a regional study on IFFs from trafficking of opiates along the northern route, which not only calculated the proceeds from drug trafficking, but also looked at the illicit financial flows related to drug payments. Recent data show that the primary route for Afghan heroin to reach Europe remains the Balkan route (through Iran, Türkiye, and South-Eastern Europe). However, there is limited information on how recent changes in opiate production, such as the drug ban imposed in Afghanistan by de facto authorities in April 2022, might have affected the financial flows derived from opiate trafficking along the Balkan route. Moreover, although the market for synthetic drugs seems to be proliferating in the region around Afghanistan and in some of the countries of the opiate Balkan route, no study has addressed yet the trafficking flows and associated financial flows attributed to synthetic drug trafficking, such as methamphetamine, in the Balkan route. Building on the work already done in the region under various UNODC research and other initiatives, and on the methodology UNODC developed for measuring IFFs, this assignment will involve the analysis of trafficking flows and the associated financial flows from opiate and methamphetamine trafficking along the Balkan route. The purpose of this assignment is to describe in detail opiate and methamphetamine markets and IFFs in the Balkans by: – Studying trafficking routes of opiates and methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan or along the route reaching destination markets in Western and Central Europe through the Balkan Route or other routes (Southern route). – Estimating the total and national illicit proceeds of opiates and, to the extent possible, methamphetamine made through their trafficking along the Balkan route. – Analyzing international financial flows of the profits made by trafficking opiates and as much as possible methamphetamine, along the Balkan route. The consultant is expected to provide an overview of the size of criminal income generated in the Balkan region, the associated financial flows and the modus operandi used by organized criminal groups to generate illicit income from drug trafficking. The assignment will also analyse the different types of investments of illicit income, such as in real estate or other economic sectors (such as construction companies, trading companies, transport companies, among others). The results of this study are expected to inform policy makers and law enforcement agencies for the creation of strategies against organized crime by targeting the proceeds generated by these groups in the Balkan route.

Qualifications/special skills

• An advanced university (Master’s degree or equivalent) in the fields of business administration, economics, social sciences, criminology, or related studies is required. A first level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. PhD in a relevant area is desirable. • A minimum of 7 years of experience in statistical methods used for research on transnational illicit markets and/or organized crime is required. • Research experience with the study of illegal drug markets, money laundering or illicit financial flows is required. • Relevant scientific publications (books or articles in peer-reviewed journals) and/or conference papers are required. • Proven experience in producing illicit financial flow estimates is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English, with excellent drafting and communication skills, is required. Knowledge of another United Nations official language is an advantage.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.