This warm-up session was organized by UN Women, UNFPA, and ESCAP. It took place online on 18 November 2021, from 8:45 to 09:30 hrs, Bangkok time, before starting Day 3 of the Conference.

Overview:

Vital statistics derived from civil registration data have the potential to transform people’s lives. This warm-up session examined the importance of registering vital events throughout people’s lives and provided an opportunity to further align efforts in strengthening civil registration systems with efforts to improve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls everywhere.  
 
Through interactive discussions, the session highlighted the strategic value of inclusive civil registration and vital statistics systems and the practical role of vital statistics in advancing gender equality and bodily autonomy. Specific country examples explored how vital statistics could and were being used to advance evidence and action to address important gender-related inequities such as gender-biased sex selection, adolescent fertility, preventable maternal deaths and gender equality within marital unions. The session also touched on the importance of promoting accurate civil registration and vital statistics in the context of responding to crises, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The discussions taking place during this warm-up session would help frame those that followed during sessions 5 and 6 of the Ministerial Conference on: Vital statistics production, dissemination and usage: harnessing civil registration data for decision-making; and on: Implementing gender-sensitive civil registration and vital statistics systems through a life cycle approach.