7th Africa Symposium on Statistical Development January 2012

1. Civil Registration and Linkages to Other Systems How Do We Bring Civil Registration Into the 21st Century? 7th Africa Symposium on Statistical Development January 2012 Cornelius Williams Regional Adviser UNICEF ESARO

2. Africa: Headline Data for Civil Registration Infrastructure • Crude birth rate 36/1000 • Crude death rate 12/1000 • Vital events (birth and death only) 48/1000, i.e. 48m/annually • Number of registration offices needed within 5KM-walking distance: 350,000 • Number of vital events/office/year: 140, i.e. less than 1 per work day

3. There Was Paper….. • “People first had to develop confidence in written records before it could supplant familiar oral and symbolic forms of record.” (in Europe..) • “Thus in England, for example, by the second half of the 13th century it was imprudent for anybody to wander far from his village without some form of identification in writing”

4. ….Paper

5. Paper: What if Obama Had Been Registered Here?

6. Then There Were Bits and Bytes:Computers, Mobile Phones, Internet and Mobile Phone Networks

7. The First I-Word: ICTInformation and Communication Technology • HardNo need to stock and replenish, need for office space only at regional level (much fewer offices) • Records hardeasy to keep • Prone to erroneous data entry (hard to control)Controlled data entry • HardEasy to share and consolidate • HardEasy to retrieve individual records • HardEasy to access for statistical purposes • While people migrate, records stay put, are accessible from anywhere • HardEasy to audit office performance, and take corrective action • Office cost limits outreachAll people reached by civil registration service • HighLow operational costeffectively borne by citizenscan be largely borne by government

8. The 2nd I-Word: Inter- Linkages • Health, given its role in people’s birth and death. The accuracy and cost-efficiency of establishing a new person’s identity at birth is 2nd to none • National ID, from competing services to an integrated government service • Social protection, which provides the entitlements targeting people who are the least likely to be registered

9. The 3rdI-Word: Inter- Linkages • Health: • Placing civil registrars within the health system • Health professionals mandated as civil registrars • Engaging community health officers as outreach registrars • Inclusion of birth registration components in public health campaigns • Common Database: • National ID process • Social protection programmes • PIN/identity numbers

10. The 4thI-Word: Incentives “Effectively, the impetus and much of the cost must come from the people. Many don’t co-operate unless they see a positive need or advantage.”

11. The 4th I-Word: Incentives through Social Protection Programs There is a two-way relationship: • For allocation of social benefits and services to target beneficiaries reliable identity systems are essential • The incentive for potential beneficiaries to register their identity is strong when there is a tangible return

12. The 4thI-Word: Incentives Birth Registration & Child Welfare Grant Scale Up Annual Beneficiary Grant Scale up: 2008-2009: 8010 2009-2010: 10589 2010 – 2011: 21911 Source MGECW & MHAI Programme Data 2011

13. The 4th I-Word: Incentivesthrough Development (a Two-Way Process)

14. Complementing Elements • Law reformto adjust to the electronic age, e-government and globalization • Harness political will. Ministers (also those responsible for national IDs), Parliamentarians (IPU) and Civil Society • Monitoring and evaluation of reform and restructuring programs and program elements, e.g. through randomized control trial