Report on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems (CRVS)

1. Report on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems (CRVS) Statistical Commission for Africa Session IV 22nd January 2012 Cape Town, South Africa

2. Content • Background • Progress made • The role of National Statistical Offices • Discussion points

3. Civil Registration provides data on the size and structure of the population (including its correlates) It provides data on fertility, mortality and also data on mortality by causes It is provides data for compilation of a large number of MDG indicators The data obtained from civil registration is continuous and permanent and is available at the lowest level of geography The United Nations recommends civil registration as the primary and the preferred source of vital statistics Background 3

4. CRVS globally was dealt with by UNSD and thus remained in the realm of statistics In late nineties for the first time UNSD published a set of five handbooks on civil registration covering non-statistical aspects – served as useful guides for establishing and strengthening civil registration systems These handbooks did not find their way to the registration offices in many countries Background 4

5. NSOs in many countries got disenchanted as the civil registration was not yielding the much needed statistics – disengaged and opted for alternative sources The civil registration was being run as a part of routine administration completed isolated from the vital statistics In some countries the civil registration law did not cast responsibility of compilation of vital statistics offices Background 5

6. BackgroundHealth Sector – Partners in CRVS Health sector demand for CRVS is great Ministers of Health expressed demand for good birth, death and Cause of Death (CoD) info at World Health Assembly Main linkages- support system building (assessment, plan development etc)- improve COD reporting using ICD in health facilities- support strengthening community reporting with use of innovative methods and verbal autopsy for CoDWHO and HMN Partners for CRVS in Africa: HMN - partnership, global focus, CRVS is prioritised, WHO - COD mandate, increasing priority

7. Progress made • A Core Group* constituted for coordinating the implementation of APAI-CRVS • MTP finalized by Core group based on inputs from the experts – it is costed and has timelines and identifies the agencies responsible for implementation of an activity • Comprehensive assessment in progress – report prepared and presented to StatCom based on responses from 32 countries * Core Group – UNECA, AFDB, AUC, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, HMN; UNECA is the secretariat

8. Progress made • 7th ASSD brought two major stakeholders, the civil registration offices and vital statistics offices from African countries under one roof to share experiences – the recommendations of ASSD is expected to pave the way for reviving the interest of NSOs in CR system and vice-versa • A clear and concise conceptual framework for APAI-CRVS has been developed • The preparation of the Second Ministerial Conference to be held in South Africa in September 2012 has begun

9. Role of National Statistics Offices • NSOs should be a part of the coordination team of the reform and revamping process of civil registration from the beginning so as to integrate and embed all the elements of data collection in the registration process • NSOs need to ensure that all elements of civil registration especially those related to data are guided by the UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System • NSOs need to play an important role in undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the CRVS system and in supporting the development of the national action plan

10. Role of National Statistics Offices • NSOs should compile and disseminate civil registration based vital statistics at least on an annual basis even if the registration is not complete • NSOs should identify areas of complete registration (city, province etc) and compile vital statistics and promote its use – this demonstrative use helps in advocacy with policy makers on the importance of vital statistics in planning • NSOs should in collaboration with health ministries provide technical leadership and support in improving statistics on causes of death • NSOs should be the principle and strongest advocates for promotion and use of vital statistics based on Civil registration

11. Discussion points • NSOs should actively participate and contribute as a primary stakeholder in the process of implementation of APAI-CRVS as described earlier* • NSOs should help integrate CRVS in their national statistical development strategies and revisit their strategies if CRVS has not been already included • NSOs should actively support their country level coordination group to align and integrate all the technical and financial resources from interested partners into a common plan of action on CRVS at national level

12. Discussion points • The African Union may take necessary steps to institutionalize the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration as permanent forum meeting every two years to review the progress of CRVS • The present secretariat in UNECA which consists of Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics (part-time) and one full time regional adviser is not sufficient to handle a fast developing programme such magnitude and diverse nature. There is a need to boost the resources of the secretariat by creating one full time core post at the professional level and two support staff* * Ministers Declaration 9.4 – ECA to consider establishing a substantive post on civil registration and vital statistics with appropriate support staff at the African Centre for Statistics to ensure the sustainability efforts to improve CRVS systems in Africa

13. Proposed points for discussion on HMN and WHO support to APAI-CRVS Support the Medium Term Plan in the following area Testing of tools Sharing of lessons and country experience, evidence building, innovations Network of expert technical partners and advocacy Support country assessments Community reporting of vital events and hospital mortality systems Support activities on cause of death statistics Use of IT in recording and transfer of data on vital events

14. Thanks