Home | Get Every One in the Picture

2024 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Applied Research Training Initiative

The CRVS applied research training (CART) initiative focuses on enhancing CRVS systems through supporting applied research on strategies, interventions, and tools. This involves designing projects to address practical questions, employing robust methodologies, and identifying key personnel for effective implementation and publication. The need to strengthen practitioners' research capacity is evident, as highlighted in the Asia-Pacific CRVS research forum held in 2023.

Read More
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems Improvement Framework

To meet the targets of the CRVS Decade, a Business Process Improvement approach can help improve and streamline Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system. The CRVS Systems Improvement Framework help CRVS stakeholders assess, analyze and redesign, to improve user experience and produce timely vital statistics.

Read More
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Inequality Assessments

The Ministerial Declaration on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific emphasizes the need to address CRVS inequalities among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations, promoting universality and equity in civil registration regardless of factors such as gender, religion, or ethnicity. Countries are encouraged to conduct assessments to assess where such inequalities may exist.

Read More
Asia-Pacific Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Research Forum

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) organized the first Asia-Pacific CRVS Research Forum which was held from 3-4 April 2023. Hosted by ESCAP in Bangkok, the fully online event offered a major research, information sharing, and capacity-building opportunity for participants. They were able to present at and attend paper presentations and interactive sessions, including networking opportunities.

Read More

Follow CRVS news in Asia and the Pacific by subscribing to the CRVS Insight Newsletter

The CRVS community in Asia and the Pacific has reflected on where it stands at the midpoint of the CRVS Decade (2015-2024) during the Second Ministerial Conference. Following this celebration of progress, many of our partners and member countries are leading actions to fill the remaining gaps.

To learn more about CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, please subscribe to our newsletter, which offers a monthly panorama of CRVS actions throughout the region

Previous editions can be found here.

Kiribati: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Report 2012 - 2014

The Kiribati National Statistics Office together with the Kiribati Civil Registration Office and the Kiribati Health Information Unit published the Kiribati Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Report 2012 - 2014. The report presents statistics on live births, deaths and the causes of death based on administrative data provided by the country's Health Information Unit (HIU) of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and, in a few instances, the country's Civil Registration Office (CRO). The report underlines the potential role of administrative data in complementing population data from census collections and surveys. The report was developed by Agnether Lemuelu, Kantaake Corbett, Mantarae Sadea with assistance from Tiensi Kaua, Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages, Kiribati, and Gloria Mathenge and Karen Carter of SPC as part of the commitments made by the Government of Kiribati towards universal registration of births and deaths, legal identification, and production of vital statistics from registration records. Support from ESCAP was made as part of a project to strengthen the National Capacity in Producing and Disseminating Vital Statistics funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Read more about Kiribati: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Report 2012 - 2014

Data analysis and report writing workshop for Civil Registration based Vital Statistics

The Brisbane Accord Group (BAG) under the leadership of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), UNICEF, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, will be conducting a data analysis and report-writing workshop from 21st-31st May 2018 in Nadi, Fiji. This course aims to strengthen the capacity of five Pacific countries in the analysis of administrative data generated from civil registration systems. The course also aims at supporting the countries to identify systems weaknesses, and to derive strategies and practical solutions for systems improvement. The overall objective is to improve the quality and availability of evidence on the performance of civil registration systems and to make this data available for policy and planning purposes, where it meets a sufficient level of quality and completeness. Specifically the course will: Assist countries to complete a vital statistics report that illustrates the current levels and trends of births, deaths and causes-of-death as recorded by their civil registration systems; Assist countries to establish the level of completeness of their civil registration systems in regard to registration of live births, deaths and causes of death, Assist participants to build proficiency in key analytical, interpretational and presentationalskills required to meet regional, national and international reporting requirements; Assist participants to develop key skills to critically appraise their data collection systems and processes, and to identify key system weaknesses and practical solutions. Fifteen participants from the Civil Registration, Health and Statistics offices of Fiji, Tonga, Nauru, Niue, Cook Islands will attend the course. This course is one of an ongoing series being conducted for Pacific Island Countries and Territories under the auspices of BAG. Please refer to http://www.pacific-crvs.org/events for more information.

Read more about Data analysis and report writing workshop for Civil Registration based Vital Statistics

Tuvalu: First Vital Statistics Report based on civil registration record published

Tuvalu has published its first report on civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) based on administrative records of births and deaths. The report written by Grace Alapati, statistician of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Tuvalu, and Mailita Tepanini, statistician of the Health Department of Tuvalu, provides statistics pertaining to live births and deaths that occurred in the country, and were captured in either the civil registration or health information system between 2012 and 2016. This report provides information on the status of the civil registration and health information system of Tuvalu, and underlines the need to strengthen the coverage and completeness of the civil registration system. This report is part of the commitments made by the Government of Tuvalu towards universal registration of births and deaths, legal identification, and production of vital statistics from registration records. The report was drafted by the Central Statistics Division of the Government of Tuvalu with the support of ESCAP. The support from ESCAP was made as part of a project to strengthen the National Capacity in Producing and Disseminating Vital Statistics funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Read more about Tuvalu: First Vital Statistics Report based on civil registration record published

Fact sheet: Measuring SDG 16.9 in Tonga

This fact sheet on measuring Target 16.9 of the global sustainable development goals (SDGs) assesses the status of legal identification in the Kingdom of Tonga based on census data. It is estimated that almost one-in-three babies born world-wide each year do not have their births registered (there are 51 million babies). These children have no form of legal identity; they are not only invisible to their governments but also lack the means to claim important rights and privileges accrued through the possession of a means of legal identification. This has been referred to as the scandal of invisibility. Target 16.9 of the SDGs commits countries to providing a legal identity to all, including birth registration. In the Pacific the proportion of unregistered births is thought to be lower than the global average, but little definitive data exists. However, the Tonga 2016 Census of Population and Housing sought to establish the proportion of children (aged below 1 and below 5) whose births were registered, and those in possession of a legal identity; in form of a birth certificate and national identification card. The fact sheet covers different aspects of legal identity such as: Birth registration completeness Birth registration by island and village Limitations of the census data in estimating birth registration completeness Possession of a national identification card

Read more about Fact sheet: Measuring SDG 16.9 in Tonga

Vanuatu: First Vital Statistics Report based on civil registration record published

Vanuatu published its first vital statistics report based on administrative data. This report presents data and statistics on live births and deaths that occurred in Vanuatu between 2012 and 2014, drawn from civil registration and health records. This report is part of the commitments made by the Government of Vanuatu towards universal registration of births and deaths, legal identification, and production of vital statistics from registration records. The report was drafted by the Vanuatu Department of Health and Department of Statistics, namely Jimmy Tamkela Tomoyan, Social Statistics Officer, Department of Statistics, Rachel Takoa, Health Information System Manager, Department of Health, Lester Dingly, Health Information System Officer, Department of Health, and Vinau Sahe, Social Statistics Officer, Department of Statistics, with assistance from Gloria Mathenge and Karen Carter of SPC. Support from ESCAP was made as part of a project to strengthen the National Capacity in Producing and Disseminating Vital Statistics funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.

Read more about Vanuatu: First Vital Statistics Report based on civil registration record published

CRVS Insight March 2018

Articles Philippines: 2018 Civil Registration Month Celebrations New World Bank publications on civil registration Events Seminar on National/International CRVS Best Practices, 09 April 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan Training of Trainers Workshop on CRVS eLearning Course, 10-19 April 2018, Windhoek, Namibia 74th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 11-16 May 2018, Bangkok, Thailand *For other issues of the newsletter

Read more about CRVS Insight March 2018

Matrix of activities

Read more about Matrix of activities

Philippines: 2018 Civil Registration Month Celebrations

Every year since 1991 'February' is declared the Civil Registration Month (CRM) in the Philippines. For the month-long celebration, the Philippine Statistics Authority-Civil Registration Service (PSA-CRS) organizes together with the other nationwide PSA offices various activities. This year’s celebration focused on the continuous commitment of the PSA to deliver relevant and reliable statistics and efficient civil registration services to its clients and stakeholders. A wide range of activities were conducted during the month such as blood donations and CRVS Concepts and Procedures Training (CRVS 101) for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. A closing event with all stakeholders marked the end of the month's celebrations. The full report on all activities can be found here.

Read more about Philippines: 2018 Civil Registration Month Celebrations

New World Bank publications on civil registration

As part of the Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiative, the World Bank Group addresses technical aspects of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in four recent publications. 1. The Technology Landscape For Digital Identification: The report provides an overview of current and emerging technology trends in digital identity. An outline of the quickly evolving technology landscape is given, highlighting key benefits and challenges of current technology choices. 2. The Role of Digital Identification for Healthcare: The report stresses the importance of digital identification systems for effective delivery of health services and public health management. Selected examples of existent digital identification systems and their usage in healthcare are analyzed, and key considerations for future implementations are proposed. 3. Integrating Unique ID Numbers in Civil Registration: The report examines mechanisms for incorporating unique identification numbers in civil registration. Civil registration systems are reviewed and the necessary practical steps required to ensure that the identity of a person can be established and trusted certificates attesting civil status can be issued are outlined. 4. Incentives for Improving Birth Registration Coverages: Incentives for improving birth registration coverage rates are reviewed based on empirical literature and examples from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The report focuses on the effects of social transfer programs, such as cash transfers, in increasing birth registration coverage. The above publications are also available on the ID4D website.