The overall theme of the fourth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development is "Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing Asia-Pacific." The Forum will engage Member States, United Nations and other institutions, major groups and other stakeholders in a dialogue on regional priorities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Asia and the Pacific. It will address scientific and technological innovation for sustainable development and focus attention on poverty eradication whilst fostering prosperity, through a discussion on achieving SDG 1 in the region. 

Eradicating poverty for all is only possible if everyone is visible to the governments of the region. The vision of social inclusion is consistent with the Regional Action Framework on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Asia and the Pacific which sets three goals for all member States in the region, including universal registration of births, deaths and other vital events, provision of legal documentation to individuals, and the production of accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) based on civil registration data. These goals should be achieved by the end of the Asia-Pacific CRVS Decade (2015-2024).

This side event to APFSD will highlight
•    Ways in which civil registration supports service delivery in countries
•    What can be done to ensure hard to reach and marginalized groups are included in CRVS systems
•    Why improving CRVS is so essential to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the SDGs