(Newsletter: CRVS Insight May 2022)

Link to the Meeting Record

The meeting was co-organized on a hybrid mode (In person at MR-H, Level 1, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok/Online through MS Team) by the Government of Pakistan, UNFPA, UNICEF, and ESCAP on 23 May 2022 at 13.30-14.30 hours (Bangkok Time, UTC+7). It was one of the side events of the seventy-eighth session of the UNESCAP Commission, held online from 23 to 27 May 2022.

To address the problem of low civil registration rates and poor quality reporting of causes of death, over the last several decades many countries have engaged the health sector to play a more proactive role in civil registration. Many countries now require the health sector to declare or notify vital events directly to the registrar or require the health sector to facilitate the submission of the declaration from the family to the civil registrar. This shifting of some or all of the reporting responsibility away from the individual and onto the health sector recognizes that civil registration is a fundamental human right and the data produced is a public good and, therefore, governments have a compulsory duty to actively ensure the registration of all vital events in their territory. Pakistan is following this international paradigm shift and significantly shifting responsibilities for registration away from families. 

The event was opened for all interested participants, particularly government officials and development partners supporting CRVS activities.