Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
The statutory authority on civil registration in PNG is the Civil & Identity Registry Office, which depends of the Department for Community Development & Religion. Its governing law is the Civil Registration Act, lastly amended in 2014. The vital statistics are produced and published by the National Statistics Office. Civil registration data is also collected through the health system which tabulates births and deaths on a monthly basis. Medical certificates of death are completed for some deaths at the request of the family but were until recently not centrally collated and primarily for family use. Older systems of recording births and deaths such as village registers are also still in use in some areas through Provincial governments. A CRVS committee was established in 2014, with different agencies, including the Department of Health, the Civil & Identity Registry Office, the National Statistics Office and the Planning and Monitoring Department.
In the past years, the PNG government has started implementing a largescale National ID program which is still underway. Providing every citizen with an ID card has been identified as a core priority. Birth certificates now come with unique number to facilitate the provision of a NID card when reaching 18. A centralized database has been created to retrieve the information quicker and more easily.
CRVS Focal Point:
Mr. Noel Mobiha, Acting Registrar-General, National Civil & Identity Registry Office
And Mr. Nicholas Piauka, Policy Manager, National Civil & Identity Registry Office
Papua New Guinea
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 Targets:
1.A
By 2024, at least 90 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.
1.B
By 2024, at least 90 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.
1.C
By 2024, at least 70 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.
1.D
By 2024, at least 25 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.
1.E
By 2024, at least ... per cent of all deaths recorded by the health sector in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year have a medically certified cause of death recorded using the international form of the death certificate.
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 Targets:
2.A
By 2024, at least 50 per cent of all births registered in the territory and jurisdiction are accompanied with the issuance of an official birth certificate that includes, as a minimum, the individual’s name, sex, date and place of birth, and name of parent(s) where known.
2.B
By 2024, at least 20 per cent of all deaths registered in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are accompanied with the issuance of an official death certificate which includes, as a minimum, the deceased’s name, date of death, sex, and age.
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 Targets:
3.A
By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on births – disaggregated by age of mother, sex of child, geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.
3.B
By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on deaths – disaggregated by age, sex, cause of death defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate), geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.
3.C
By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths occurring in health facilities or with the attention of a medical practitioner have an underlying cause of death code derived from the medical certificate according to the standards defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate).
3.D
By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.
3.E
By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths taking place outside of a health facility and without the attention of a medical practitioner have their underlying cause of death code determined through verbal autopsy in line with international standards.
3.F
By 2024, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on births and deaths using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within one calendar year.
3.G
By 2024, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on causes of death using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within two calendar years.
3.H
By 2024, an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 is an expression of the internationally accepted principle of the universal coverage of civil registration. The CRVS system should register all vital events occurring in the territory and jurisdiction of the country or area, including among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations.
National Targets:
1.A
By 2024, at least 90 per cent of births in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.
TARGET
202490%
1.B
By 2024, at least 90 per cent of children under 5 years old in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.
MIDTERM
201713.4%
TARGET
202490%
1.C
By 2024, at least 70 per cent of all individuals in the territory and jurisdiction have had their birth registered.
baseline
20152%
MIDTERM
201915%
TARGET
202470%
1.D
By 2024, at least 25 per cent of all deaths that take place in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are registered.
baseline
2011%<1%
MIDTERM
2017<3%
TARGET
202425%
1.E
By 2024, at least ... per cent of all deaths recorded by the health sector in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year have a medically certified cause of death recorded using the international form of the death certificate.
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 reflects that CRVS systems provide legal documentation of civil registration to individuals and families for legal and administrative purposes. Legal documentation is strongly linked with a broad range of rights and activities, in particular legal identity. This goal addresses the distinction between the civil registration of a vital event and the possession of formal proof that it took place, in the form of legal documentation.
National Targets:
2.A
By 2024, at least 50 per cent of all births registered in the territory and jurisdiction are accompanied with the issuance of an official birth certificate that includes, as a minimum, the individual’s name, sex, date and place of birth, and name of parent(s) where known.
2.B
By 2024, at least 20 per cent of all deaths registered in the territory and jurisdiction in the given year are accompanied with the issuance of an official death certificate which includes, as a minimum, the deceased’s name, date of death, sex, and age.
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 highlights the critical importance of civil registration being linked to the production and quality assurance of vital statistics on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events.
National Targets:
3.A
By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on births – disaggregated by age of mother, sex of child, geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.
TARGET
Target achieved
3.B
By … (year), annual nationally representative statistics on deaths – disaggregated by age, sex, cause of death defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate), geographic area and administrative subdivision – are produced from registration records or other valid administrative data sources.
TARGET
Target achieved
3.C
By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths occurring in health facilities or with the attention of a medical practitioner have an underlying cause of death code derived from the medical certificate according to the standards defined by ICD (latest version as appropriate).
Note: This target was not monitored as part of the Midterm Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Regional Action Framework for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.
3.D
By 2024, the proportion of deaths coded to ill-defined codes will have been reduced to … per cent.
3.E
By 2024, at least … per cent of deaths taking place outside of a health facility and without the attention of a medical practitioner have their underlying cause of death code determined through verbal autopsy in line with international standards.
Note: In light of recent countries’ experiences, Verbal autopsy is not encouraged to be applied to a large population scale, but rather on a representative sample. To reflect this, Target 3E is not anymore monitored by the coverage percentage of Verbal autopsy, but by the use or not of Verbal autopsy and its different applications.
MIDTERM
Yes
3.F
By 2024, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on births and deaths using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within one calendar year.
TARGET
2024
3.G
By 2024, key summary tabulations of vital statistics on causes of death using registration records as the primary source, are made available in the public domain in electronic format annually, and within two calendar years.
TARGET
2024
3.H
By 2024, an accurate, complete and timely vital statistics report for the previous two years, using registration records as the primary source, is made available in the public domain.
TARGET
2024
Papua New Guinea
National Coordination Mechanism
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
Comprehensive Assessment
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
National Targets for 2024
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
Monitoring & Reporting Plan
Status in Papua New Guinea: Not started
Inequality Assessment
Status in Papua New Guinea: Not started
National Strategy
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
National Focal Point
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
Reporting to ESCAP - Baseline
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
Reporting to ESCAP - Midterm
Status in Papua New Guinea: Complete
Papua New Guinea Events
09 December 2015 - 10 December 2015
The workshop for National CRVS Focal Points is aimed at strengthening capacities for setting national targets and collecting, compiling and…
23 August 2023 - 25 August 2023
The Pacific Community (Statistics Division and Public Health Division), ESCAP, the CDC Foundation plus other BAG partners as required will meet with…
Papua New Guinea News
30 July 2024
The Government of Papua New Guinea, with the support by UNICEF PNG, aims to boost birth registration to ensure all children have a legal identity.…
01 September 2023
(Newsletter August 2023)
A series of three workshops were jointly organized by ESCAP, CDC Foundation, SPC, the WHO and UNICEF from 23-25 August to…
03 June 2022
(Newsletter: CRVS Insight June 2022)
Coding of cause of death data is essential for mortality statistics and optimizing the benefits from a good…
20 October 2021
(Newsletter: CRVS Insight October 2022)
The preparations for the Second Ministerial Conference on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific are nearly complete…
08 February 2019
Between 28 - 30 January, in Bangkok, Thailand, Vital Strategies and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (…
29 January 2018
The CRVS Secretariat of the Cabinet Division, Government of Bangladesh organized the "International Conference on CRVS, 2018" on 23-25 January 2018…
08 September 2017
The Pacific Ministers of Health Meeting was held in the Cook Islands from 28-30 August. Ministers emphasized the importance of CRVS to the health…
06 September 2017
The Cook Islands hosted the Pacific Ministers of Health Meeting 28-30 August 2017. Ministers again emphasized the importance of civil registration…
11 May 2017
Road traffic accidents and injuries are an important cause of premature deaths in the Pacific Islands, but are often poorly recorded in our cause of…
03 April 2017
Do you want to know how many countries in Asia and the Pacific have a CRVS coordination mechanism? Are you interested in how ambitious the national…
18 September 2016
Over the last 2 weeks of September, 18 participants from six countries (Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands)…
29 April 2016
Here you can find recent news, events and blogs relevant for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.
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Papua New Guinea Resources
Country Assessments and Strategies, 2023
This refreshed plan is developed based on the findings of the Comprehensive Assessment completed by Jeff Montgomery in 2019 and is aimed at…
Meeting Documents, 2023
The Pacific Civil Registrars Network met on 20-23 March 2023 in Suva, Fiji. The meeting was organized with support of the Economic and Social…
Country Assessments and Strategies, 2020
Advocacy Materials, Country Assessments and Strategies, Report, 2019
Within the last five years, almost all Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) have undertaken an assessment of the civil registration and…
Newsletters, 2019
Articles
23 Member Countries have already reported on their CRVS progress since 2015
South Asia makes huge progress in birth registration, shows…
Newsletters, 2019
Articles
How has CRVS Progressed in Asia-Pacific since 2015?
Papua New Guinea Comprehensive Assessment Completed
Fifth Conference of African…
Advocacy Materials, 2017
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics play a key role in facilitating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. A well-functioning CRVS…
Newsletters, 2017
Articles
Enroll in the facilitated CRVS eLearning course today
Cambodia completes survey to establish national baselines on CRVS
The Regional…
Advocacy Materials, Country Assessments and Strategies, 2017
Do you want to know how many countries in Asia and the Pacific have a CRVS coordination mechanism? Are you interested in how ambitious the national…
Meeting Documents, UN Official Documents, 2016
The seventy-first session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific adopted resolution 71/14 on the Asian and Pacific Civil…
Meeting Documents, 2014
Civil registration and vital statistics update briefing for the meeting of ministers of health of the Pacific island countries in Honiara July 2014
International Standards and Recommendations, UN Official Documents, 2014
Through Commission resolution 69/15, countries in Asia and the Pacific requested that further regional action be taken to support the improvement of…
Meeting Documents, 2016
WHAT WE DO: We provide an opportunity to share information, lessons learned and good practice. This fosters coordination and integration of Civil…
Meeting Documents, 2014
Advocacy Materials, Meeting Documents, 2014
The Ministerial Declaration to "Get every one in the picture' in Asia and the Pacific was made at the Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration…
Meeting Documents, Report, UN Official Documents, 2014
The Report of the Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific gives an overview of the main outcomes of…
Advocacy Materials, 2014
In preparation for the Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific a fact sheet on civil…
Events
News
Resources
Country Assessments and Strategies, 2023
Meeting Documents, 2023
Country Assessments and Strategies, 2020