The information note provides an overview of national CRVS coordination mechanisms in Asia and the Pacific and give guidance to countries on how a national CRVS coordination mechanism can be most effective.

If Kiribati were able to register all birth, all deaths and identify all causes of death wouldn’t we be in a position to make the best decisions for our people?  Get everyone in the picture is the solution. How can we get everyone in the picture? The answer is the Asian and Pacific Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Decade 2016 – 2024, where ten years of a forward plan will make a big difference for our nation.  By the end of this Decade it is envisaged that: (a) all key life events are being registered; (b) all people possess legal proof of identity; and (c) registration records are fully utilized to produce and share accurate, complete and timely vital statics. To make all of this happen three Ministries are joining hands in collaboration with other stakeholders to put all of the work together for the next 10 years. Civil Registry Office, Ministry of JUSTICE, Health Information Unit, Ministry of Health and Medical Services, National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. This Decade has brought together the Ministry of Health who is at the fore front of most births and deaths that occur in our nation with its partners in CRVS, where through a combined effort to register all birth and deaths, success and development goals will be achieved.

The Afghanistan Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Country Strategic Plan 2016-2020 was commissioned by the World Health Office in Kabul Afghanistan in response to a request from the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health. Universal civil registration is crucial because it helps safeguard human rights and vital statistics information can be used for planning, administration and research across multiple sectors including education, labour and health. The strategic plan is based on comprehensive assessments of the country’s institutional capacity to implement CRVS activities. Experts from international and national non-governmental organizations and multi-lateral funding and technical agencies participated in the planning of the assessments and many people have contributed to the successful development of this strategic plan.

This is the report of the Pacific Civil Registrars Network Disaster Preparation and Response Workshop, organized on 2 to 4 October 2017, in Suva, Fiji.  The focus of the workshops was to discuss the role of civil registration and vital statistics systems in planning and responding to natural disasters and other emergencies. CRVS systems provide important information on the population for planning an appropriate response, and play a key role in replacing key identity documents following and event while ensuring the ongoing registration of vital events such as births and deaths especially when populations may be displaced or accessing government services through alternative locations. Registrars from 14 countries shared their experiences and looked at national and regional opportunities to improve system resilience and response in the event of a disaster. The PCRN fosters coordination and integration of Civil Registrars’ input and ideas into the implementation of the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan (PVSAP) and the Regional Action Framework for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific. The meeting gave recommendations to countries and partners for progressing this important work, including how regional partners can contribute to improving the CRVS systems in countries and was organized by the Pacific Civil Registrars’ Network (PCRN), the support of the Brisbane Accord Group, UNICEF, New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade Programme (NZ MFAT), and the Pacific Community with support from private partners, ESCAP, Plan International, UNISDR, NZ High Commissioner, UNHCR, and the World Bank.

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) defines civil registration as the continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events pertaining to the population, as provided through decree or regulation in accordance with the legal requirements in each country. Civil registration is the best source of vital statistics since it constitutes the collection of statistics on vital events in a lifetime of a person as well as relevant characteristics of the events themselves and of the person and persons concerned. A well-functioning Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system can significantly improve governance at national and subnational levels and can provide legal and protective advantages to individuals. CRVS system also has statistical advantages over censuses and sample surveys because it provides reliable disaggregated data at any geographical or administrative level, at a relatively low cost. To monitor and measure progress, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) was tasked with developing a global indicator framework. In addition to directly measuring the development and improvement of CRVS, data from complete and accurate CRVS systems can also provide information used to monitor other targets and indicators. CRVS systems in countries also play an important role in effecting progress in other SDG targets and indicators.