To promote the participation of children, youth and civil society in CRVS activities, a joint Young People and Civil Society Forum will be held on 4-6 March 2025 at the UN Conference Center, Bangkok, Thailand. The Forum will reach consensus on a statement from children and youth, and a statement from civil society to be given during the Third Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific on 24-26 June 2025. Selected participants from the Forum will also participate in panel sessions and side events to ensure the voices of children, youth and civil society are heard throughout the Conference.

The Forum will have two parallel tracks. The first track is the Young People’s Forum (see concept note here), organized by CRC Asia, World Vision, Plan International, ESCAP and UNICEF. The second track is the CRVS Civil Society Forum (see concept note here), organized by Global Health Advocacy Incubator, ESCAP and other development partners. A call for participation in the CRVS Civil Society Forum will be shared in late 2024.

The overall aim of the Young People’s Forum is:

To improve the accountability of States in ensuring a universal and responsive civil registration and vital statistics system through meaningful engagement with children and youth.

Specifically, the Young People’s Forum aims to:

1. Co-create participation spaces and collaborate with children and youth to contribute to the Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in 2025
2. Gather the views of children and youth on the progress on addressing the points raised by children and youth for the Second Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in 2021
3. Provide a platform for children and youth to share their experiences and views on specific topics related to CRVS, such as violence against children, education, travel and movement, gender, climate change and extreme weather events, and armed conflict
4. Support the development of a set of recommendations from children and youth
5. Facilitate a process among children and youth to select their own representatives to the regional platforms

The overall aim of the Civil Society Forum is:

To improve engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) towards improving national and local CRVS systems through discussions and sharing of perspectives, tools and practices.

Specifically, the Civil Society Forum aims to:

1. Review the current engagement of CSOs in the CRVS system strengthening and policy process
2. Support CSOs in using CRVS data do develop evidence-based messages for policy and budget advocacy campaigns to strengthen CRVS systems
3. Share tools and best practices for CSO engagement in strengthening CRVS systems
4. Co-create a civil society statement for the Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in 2025

In the months leading up to the Civil Society Forum civil society consultations on CRVS will be hosted by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator and other development partners.

Links to register for the country level consultations can be found below:

• Bangladesh, 15 January 2025
• Cambodia, 3 December 2024, co-hosted by ESCAP and Vital Strategies
• India, 23 January 2025
• Philippines, 20-21 January 2025, co-hosted with the Philippine Legislative Committee on Population and Development and Child Rights Network Philippines