Report to the Statistical Commission - Africa on

1. Report to the Statistical Commission - Africa on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System (CRVS) in Africa United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Secretariat – Africa Programme on Accelerated Progamme on CRVS Fourth Session of Statistical Commission Africa and Meeting of Committee of DGs 10 -12 December 2014 Tunis, Tunisia

2. Important Milestones Prior to Third Session of the StatCom – Africa held in January 2012 • Meeting of Experts in Dar-Es-Salam - June 2009 • First Conference responsible for Civil Registration - August 2010 • Expert Group Meeting on CRVS – January 2011 • First meeting of the Regional Core Group – April 2011 • 7th ASSD, the first one on the theme of CRVS – January 2012

3. Important Milestones (contd.) After the Third Session of the StatCom – Africa • Comprehensive review of CRVS in Africa completed – April 2012 • Heads of State and Government endorse the institutionalization of Ministers Conference as a biennial Conference – July 2012 • Second Conference responsible for Civil Registration – September 2012 • Training of pool of experts on CRVS – May 2013 • 8th and 9th ASSD with CRVS focus – January 2013 and February 2014

4. Key Achievements • Conference of Ministers institutionalized as permanent conference under the AUC • Regional CRVS Core Group established and fully functional • Guidelines and tools for assessment and planning developed by Regional Core Group • A Regional pool of CRVS African Experts developed which is now supporting countries • 21 countries have completed assessment, in 7 countries the assessment is in progress and 3 countries are preparing for one • Almost all countries have constituted High level Committees and Technical level committees to support the CRVS improvement process

5. Key Achievements (contd.) • High level political commitment in most countries • National Statistics Offices fully engaged and even leading the process in some countries • A large number of persons in countries trained on CRVS – champions emerging at country and regional level • The African initiative has resulted in global momentum – • - Global CRVS group constituted • - World Bank working on Global Financing Mechanism for CRVS • - Global call for linkage with National Identity Management • (Seoul Conference – September 2014) • - Clinton Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and UN • Foundation announcing partnership with APAI-CRVS on gender • December 2014) • UN Country team supporting the country effort

6. Challenges • No predictable financing for implementing CRVS improvement programme at country and regional levels • The Secretariat is not adequately staffed – posing a risk to the programme • Not adequate experts available for providing technical assistance to countries –for example in causes of death • No systematic process of sharing of experiences between countries • No systematic measurement of level of completeness of registration in place • Some countries are yet to assess their CRVS systems

7. Points for consideration • Predictable financing needed for implementing CRVS improvement programme at country and regional levels • Countries should be ready to fund the day to day functions of the CRVS systems • The pool of experts need to be expanded for providing technical support to countries – much in line with the PHC programme • Need for more sustainable capacity development measures • The Secretariat should create a mechanism for experience sharing • Countries should set up mechanisms for measuring completeness of registration as a part of performance management • Countries who are yet to initiate assessment should do so