The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Statistics Norway, and the European Free Trade Association, are jointly co-hosting a workshop to improve the capacity of national Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems in producing and disseminating vital statistics. The Project supports the implementation of the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, in particular Goal 3 which stipulates that accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced, based on registration records, and disseminated. This workshop, from 7 - 11 October 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is a stand-alone event aimed at strengthening the dissemination of vital statistics, as well as coordination among the relevant stakeholders responsible for producing and using vital statistics. Ultimately, the workshop will assist countries in creating a complete, national vital statistics report. Resources will be uploaded soon to the link below. http://www.getinthepicture.org/resource/presentations-and-working-sessio...

A delegation of 8 officials from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics(BBS) visited Maldives National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) from 25-27 June 2019 to share the knowledge and experience in the administrative of vital statistics in both the countries. On 26th June, the delegation met with the members of CRVS technical team in Maldives. The meeting started with an introduction to the VRS system in Maldives with a presentation given by Local Government Authority (LGA) and National Centre for Information Technology (NCIT) on the new VRS system which is going to be rolled out this year in Maldives. Additionally, the delegation from BBS presented how Vital statistics are collected in Bangladesh. On 27th June, the delegation visited a nearby Island Council to learn from how birth and death forms are maintained at Island Council. The activities for the BBS study tour was jointly organized with the Local Government Authority(LGA) and Maldives CRVS technical team gained insight into how it is being done in neighbouring countries.

Through resolution 73/1, ESCAP member States decided that in the years when the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development meets under the auspices of the General Assembly at the summit level, which is every four years, the Commission and the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) would share the same theme [as the High-level Political Forum]. In 2019, the first time this convergence takes place, the theme study for the Commission session will, therefore, focus on the theme for the High-level Political Forum for 2019: Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality. The theme study for the seventy-fourth session in 2018, entitled Inequality in the era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set the stage, showing that the region's high inequality of outcomes and opportunities traps the vulnerable in poverty and marginalization. The 2019 theme study builds on these findings to examine how empowerment and inclusion are critical for reducing inequality. In recognition of civil registration's role in addressing inequality, ESCAP's CRVS team and the Government of Pakistan co-hosted a side-event at the 75th session of the Commission to highlight the need for improved CRVS systems in meeting the 2030 Agenda. With a closing speech from the Executive Secretary for ESCAP, the panel speakers included the Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand and Permanent Representative to ESCAP, the Chief Advisor to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms in Pakistan, the Chief Statistician of Malaysia, the Permanent Representative of China to ESCAP, the Regional Advisor for Child Protection, UNICEF ROSA, and the Director of ESCAP’s Statistics Division. The speakers addressed topics such as country specific, CRVS system developments, the human rights inherent in legal identity, how CRVS facilitates better access to social services, as well as the regional progress toward meeting the Regional Action Framework and the upcoming 2020 Ministerial Conference. Follow the links to hear directly from Dato' Sri Mohd Uzir Mahadin, the Chief Statistician of Malaysia, or Dr. Syed Mursalin, the Chief Advisor to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms in Pakistan on the continued importance of CRVS.

Tongans will soon benefit from improved digital access to key public services, including significant upgrades to Tonga’s civil registration and national ID systems, following the approval of a US$4.65 million grant by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. The Tonga Digital Government Support Project will strengthen digital access, efficiency and security in Tonga’s public service, by supporting a number of whole-of-government digital initiatives, including a new National Government Portal that will improve Tongans’ access to services and information across all Government ministries and agencies, as well as improvements to Tonga’s regulations for digital economy and digital government, data protection and privacy, and cyber security. In addition, the project will improve Tonga’s civil registration and national ID systems, ensuring that each Tongan citizen and resident is assigned a unique ID number at birth, that their legal identity can be authenticated for accessing services in-person and online, and that birth, death and marriage records are linked. For Tongan families, this will mean that newborns can be registered more quickly, and that all Tongans will have better access to education, health, employment, elections, immigration, property ownership and banking. These efforts will accelerate achievement of Sustainable Development Goal target (SDG) 16.9: to “provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.”