By now, everyone reading this article is already aware that former Secretary-General Kofi Annan passed away on 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland. However, what readers may not know, or immediately recall, is that Mr. Annan was an early supporter of birth registration as a central means for protecting children. Specifically, he made his views clear in the 2001 publication of We the Children, by articulating that: "During the 1990s, there was growing awareness of the importance of prompt birth registration as an essential means of protecting a child’s right to identity, as well as respect for other child rights. Failure to register births promptly has been linked to the trafficking of babies. The lack of a birth certificate may prevent a child from receiving health care, nutritional supplements and social assistance, and from being enrolled in school. Later in childhood, identity documents help protect children against early marriage, child labour, premature enlistment in the armed forces or, if accused of a crime, prosecution as an adult". According to UNICEF, at the time of publication, We the Children was considered “a landmark review of the progress made in meeting the commitments of the 1990 World Summit for Children”. The historical importance of this publication is amplified when considering that the 1990 Summit was, also at the time, the “largest gathering of world leaders in history” and was the driving force behind national commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Notably, the CRC is still the most widely adopted international human rights instrument. With that in mind, the CRVS team in the Statistics Division of UN ESCAP wanted to take this opportunity to remind readers of Mr. Annan's contributions to our collective goals of protecting children by highlighting his foresight on this important issue, as well as his tireless work on behalf of human rights everywhere. 

In collaboration with the Korea Ministry of Strategy and Finance, The World Bank, on behalf of the Global Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Group, launched a French version of its state-of-the-art, eLearning course on CRVS. So far, The World Bank reports that from the 979 learners enrolled in the English version, 461 successfully completed the course and received the basic level certificate. Those numbers are expected to grow significantly as the French version reaches new participants in locations where the lessons learned can be linked with identity management systems and tailored for local contexts. Moreover, although the English version of the course can be self-paced or virtually facilitated, the French version is self-paced only. And in the coming months, The World Bank also plans to launch a Spanish language version of the self-paced course. Ultimately, the overall development of this course, as well as its expansion, further demonstrates the commitment of the Global CRVS Group and its development partners to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically 16.9: By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.

The 74th session of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Commission (ESCAP) will be held from May 11th to 16th 2018 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The annual Commission Session provides a forum for Governments of the region to review and discuss economic and social issues and strengthen regional cooperation. Moreover, it provides a platform for decision-makers to launch regional initiatives. As such, the 71st ESCAP Commission Session launched the Asia-Pacific CRVS Decade (2015-2024). Much progress has been made in the meantime. Yet, strengthening CRVS systems within the region remains more than relevant under this year’s session theme topic “Inequality in the era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The vision of the 2030 Agenda to “leave no one behind” is uniquely linked to providing legal proof of identification, and consequently recognizing individual rights. Maintaining the momentum generated at the beginning of the CRVS Decade is thus essential to ensuring further progress. The decision made during the 3rd meeting of the Regional Steering Group to hold a ministerial conference in 2020 to accelerate progress on civil registration and vital statistics improvements could therefore mark another milestone within the region. A resolution on holding a ministerial conference on CRVS in 2020 has been set forth by the Government of Fiji under the leadership of Her Excellency Rosy Akbar and the stewardship of Mr. Pita Tagicakirewa. The resolution is currently under review and will be decided upon during the Commission Session. Support for the resolution is very much appreciated, and stakeholders are invited to express co-sponsorship during the sessions.

The World Bank released the 2018 edition of the ID4D Global Dataset. According to the data at hand, an estimated of one billion people worldwide face challenges in proving who they are. Consequently, they struggle to access basic services and can be excluded from formal employment opportunities. The dataset further sheds light on who these one billion people living without official proof of identity are. Around 81% live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, 63% live in lower-middle income economies, 28% live in low-income economies. In the later, a large gender gap characterizes the unregistered population – over 45% of women lack official proof of identity compared to 30% of men. More detailed information on the global identification challenge can be found on the ID4D website, where the 2018 ID4D Global Dataset is also available for download.