Timor-Leste | Get Every One in the Picture

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Timor-Leste

At the time of independence in 2002, official registration was almost non-existent and the whole system needed to be built. A new legal regime for civil registration was implemented in 2004.

Civil registration is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, through the National Directorate of Civil Registration and Notary. There are thirteen civil registration offices, one in each municipality. But two additional government agencies collect civil registration data: the Ministry of State Affairs assists the Ministry of Finance of which the General Directorate of Statistics (GDS) is part by collecting and collating data at the Aldeia (community), Suco (village), Administrative Post and Municipality (District) levels and passing these compiled lists of births and deaths on a semi-annual basis to GDS Head Office. The Ministry of Health also collates birth and death registration data through health facilities across the country. There is no unique ID. In 2014, a committee on CRVS was established involving The Ministry of Finance (MoF), MoJ, MoH, Ministry of Education (MoE) and MoSA (Ministry of State Administration).

Births and deaths need to be reported by the family within 4 weeks. For children under 5 years birth registration is free of charge. The cost is $5 for registration of those aged over five years. A new reform of Civil Registration processes proposes a fine of $3 for delayed registration (after 4 weeks).

The Demographic and Health Survey of 2009-10 estimated that 55% of children under 5 years of age were registered and the 2015 census reported that 31.3% of children aged less than six years had a birth certificate. Completeness of deaths registrations in 2011 was estimated to be approximately 20%. It is estimated that Cause of Death is properly coded in fewer than 10% of cases. Collaboration with Suco Chiefs and midwives, as well as mobile registration have increased coverage, but remote areas remain hard to reach.

CRVS Focal Point:

Mr. Ricardo da Cruz Santos, Acting Director of Methodology and Data Collection, General Directorate of Statistics Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste

Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events

Goal 1 Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

1.B

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

1.C

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

1.D

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

1.E

By 2024, at least … per cent of all deaths recorded by the health sector in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year have a medically certified cause of death recorded using the international form of the death certificate.

Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights

Goal 2 Targets:

2.A

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all births registered in the territory and jurisdiction are accompanied with the issuance of an official birth certificate that includes, as a minimum, the individual’s name, sex, date and place of birth, and name of parent(s) where known.

2.B

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths registered in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are accompanied with the issuance of an official death certificate which includes, as a minimum, the deceased’s name, date of death, sex, and age.

Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated

Goal 3 Targets:

3.A

By 2022, annual nationally representative statistics on births – disaggregated by age of mother, sex of child, geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.B

By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on deaths – disaggregated by age, sex, cause of death defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate), geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.

3.C

By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths occurring in health facilities or with the attention of a medical practitioner have an underlying cause of death code derived from the medical certificate according to the standards defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate).

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

3.E

By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths taking place outside of a health facility and without the attention of a medical practitioner have their underlying cause of death code determined through verbal autopsy in line with international standards.

3.F

By 2022, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on births and deaths using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within one calendar year.

3.G

By 2022, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on causes of death using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within two calendar years.

3.H

By 2022, an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events

Goal 1 is an expression of the internationally accepted principle of the universal coverage of civil registration. The CRVS system should register all vital events occurring in the territory and jurisdiction of the country or area, including among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations.

National Targets:

1.A

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

TARGET

2024

100%

1.B

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

MIDTERM

2016

60.4%

TARGET

2024

100%

1.C

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.

TARGET

2024

100%

1.D

By 2024, at least 100 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.

Note: This country has not submitted estimates for the number of deaths for all years. The level of completeness of death registration was therefore assessed with international estimates for every year, to allow comparison. These measurements are therefore to be interpreted with caution.

baseline

2014

22%

MIDTERM

2018

29%

TARGET

2024

100%

1.E

Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights

Goal 2 reflects that CRVS systems provide legal documentation of civil registration to individuals and families for legal and administrative purposes. Legal documentation is strongly linked with a broad range of rights and activities, in particular legal identity. This goal addresses the distinction between the civil registration of a vital event and the possession of formal proof that it took place, in the form of legal documentation.

National Targets:

2.A

TARGET

2024

100%

2.B

TARGET

2024

100%

Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated

Goal 3 highlights the critical importance of civil registration being linked to the production and quality assurance of vital statistics on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events.

National Targets:

3.A

TARGET

2022

3.B

TARGET

Target achieved

3.C

Note: This target was not monitored as part of the Midterm Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Regional Action Framework for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.

3.D

By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.

3.E

Note: In light of recent countries’ experiences, Verbal autopsy is not encouraged to be applied to a large population scale, but rather on a representative sample. To reflect this, Target 3E is not anymore monitored by the coverage percentage of Verbal autopsy, but by the use or not of Verbal autopsy and its different applications.

MIDTERM

Yes

3.F

TARGET

2022

3.G

TARGET

2022

3.H

By 2022, an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.

TARGET