UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for “more coherent” collaboration at the national and the international levels to prevent and counter illicit financial flows (IFFs) the illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another.

“My Government’s firm resolve against corrupt practices calls for a more proactive role by our partners, in line with international legal instruments, including the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC),” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told a high-level meeting on the growing problem of illicit financial flows that adversely effect economic progress, especially in the developing countries.

“It (IFFs) is a key contributory factor for the economic under-performance of developing countries and a major obstacle to poverty eradication,” the Pakistani envoy said.

According to the estimates of UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), illicit financial flows, stemming only from criminal proceeds, amount to around 2.1 trillion dollars annually.

That, Ambassador Lodhi said, was almost equivalent to the annual financial gap of 2.5 trillion dollars faced by developing countries in investment in core sustainable development goals-related sectors.

Developing countries are disproportionally affected by the negative consequences of illicit financial flows, Ambassador Lodhi said, pointing to their lack of capacity and resources to prevent and counter these flows.

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