Inequality Assessment

The Regional Action Framework calls upon Members and Associate Members of ESCAP to assess inequalities related to CRVS experienced by subgroups of the population, including hard-to-reach and marginalized populations and particular geographic areas and administrative subdivisions. The Ministerial Declaration on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific recognizes the need to address disparities in the civil registration coverage of hard-to-reach and marginalized populations, including people living in rural, remote, isolated or border areas, minorities, indigenous people, migrants, non-citizens, asylum seekers, refugees, stateless people, and people without documentation.

Geographic location, gender, religion or ethnicity should not be barriers to civil registration. Many countries experience substantially lower civil registration coverage rates among certain population groups, geographic areas and administrative subdivisions. Members and associate members are thus encouraged to set separate national targets, where appropriate, for civil registration coverage, provision of legal documentation and vital statistics for these subgroups, including hard-to-reach and marginalized populations. These targets should be supported by specific activities, ideally as part of a comprehensive multisectoral national CRVS strategy, to address the inequalities related to CRVS that these subgroups experience.

The focus on universality and equity implies that, in countries where there are significant variations in civil registration coverage by geography or level of social and economic development, it may be necessary to establish special procedures for civil registration. These may include incentives and measures to alleviate barriers to civil registration, such as gender disparities, distance, costs and cultural factors, and may involve utilizing existing infrastructure or public services, including social workers and community health workers, for notifying civil registration authorities of vital events.

To discuss how to ensure more countries engage in this essential step in the second half of the CRVS Decade and how can partners support them, ESCAP Statistics Division is organizing a series of webinars and expert group meetings. In each session, experts will present the possibilities and discuss standing issues for the realization of inequality assessments.

You can find more information by consulting the information note on inequality assessments. 

Please find more information on ESCAP's inequality assessment work at Implementing Inequality Assessments and Strengthening Demographic Analysis Capacity Project. 

The following countries have conducted or are conducting an inequality assessment with support from ESCAP:  

• Lao PDR, the full report presentencing the results of the inequality assessment is available here.  

• Fiji, the full report presentencing the results of the inequality assessment is available here.  

• Samoa, more information available here.  

• Philippines, more information available here. 

• Bangladesh, more information available here.