Our community newsletter puts a spotlight on people who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to support CRVS programmes in Asia and the Pacific, raise awareness of CRVS issues or lead CRVS improvement efforts in their home country or in the region.  This month, we would like to dedicate this issue of Insight to Tashi Dorjee.

An initiative by the Danish National Archives, in partnership with the Center for Clinical Research and Prevention and Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, is underway to digitize historical medical birth records using AI. Paper records for over four million individuals born between 1926 and the 1970s are being transformed into a digital database.

At the Identity Week Asia 2024, held in October 2024, Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil) has outlined a progressive plan to modernize the nation's population and civil registration system. A cornerstone of this evolution is the integration of Digital Population Identity (IKD) as a seamless extension of existing legal identities. 

In 2020, a record-high 35.5 million international migrant children were living outside their home countries. These children faced many dangers, including violence, mistreatment, exploitation, and neglect. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. Gehad Madi, wrote a report to the United Nations General Assembly about the issue of children on the move. 

Two capacity building workshops were held 24-27 September and 30 September-3 October in Paro, Bhutan. With participants from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Bhutan Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Health and Department of Immigration, the workshops provided an opportunity for a large variety of stakeholders to get an in depth understanding on the production of demographic indicators.

Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative and Vital Strategies recently hosted a five-day workshop in New Delhi, India aimed at strengthening vital statistics production processes in over 10 countries across Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

The UN Legal Identity Agenda (UNLIA) actively promotes and assists member states in the initial management and integration of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics and National ID systems (CRVSID) systems. 

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) hosted the 3rd Philippine Identity Summit on 16 September 2024. The Summit highlighted the accomplishments of the National ID system, and promoted collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the exploration of technological innovations in e-governance.