Africa, Asia and Eastern Mediterranean 2012 and 2013

REGIONAL NETWORK WORK PLANS 

Africa, Asia and Eastern Mediterranean 

2012 and 2013 

Prepared for 

HMN Executive Board Meeting, 8 November 2012

INTRODUCTION 

In accordance with the approved HMN Corporate Plan 2012–13, three networks have been 

established centred in Africa, Asia–Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean. At the HMN Executive 

Board Meeting of 1 June 2012, the Executive Board approved the HMN Regional Network Hub 

Strategy. These regional work plans have since been developed in collaboration with the key 

regional partners in each of the three regions, to outline how HMN will support the strengthening of 

CRVS in collaboration with regional partners in 2012–13. In accordance with the possible funding 

cessation in March 2013, activities are only identified to March 2013, even though the regional 

programmes will continue. 

BACKGROUND 

HMN has actively pursued the Executive Board–approved transition from a centralized secretariat to 

a decentralized secretariat function, as approved by the Executive Board on 1 June 2012. The nowlean 

secretariat of three persons provides a streamlined overhead to support regional partner 

activities. To consolidate relationships with key network partners, as agreed by the Executive Board 

on 1 June 2012, HMN has negotiated memorandums of understanding with ASSD and UNECA in 

Africa, UNESCAP in Asia and technical partners University of Oslo and University of Queensland. 

These partners are now actively engaged in the technical and implementation work. This 

characterizes a true and lively network. 

As mandated by the UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s 

Health (COIA), and approved by the HMN Executive Board, the focus of HMN regional networks is on 

civil registration and vital statistics. 

REGIONAL NETWORKS AND PRIORITY COUNTRIES 

Since the approval of the HMN Corporate Plan 2012–13, HMN has been actively engaging with 

partners in the following regions to develop a regional plan for HMN support and engagement: 

(i) Africa 

(ii) Asia and Pacific, including central Asia 

(iii) Eastern Mediterranean. 

These three networks cover a majority of the priority countries identified by the UN Commission on 

Information and Accountability for Women and Children’s Health as shown in Table 1 below. 

Table 1. Priority countries for UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women and 

Children’s Health covered by the HMN hubs 

HMN hub 

WHO Regional 

Office 

Country HMN hub WHO Regional 

Office 

Country 

Africa AFRO Angola Africa AFRO South Sudan 

Africa AFRO Benin Africa AFRO Swaziland 

Africa AFRO Botswana Africa AFRO UR Tanzania 

Africa AFRO Burkina Faso Africa AFRO Togo 

Africa AFRO Burundi Africa AFRO Uganda 

Africa AFRO Cameroon Africa AFRO Zambia 

Africa 

AFRO 

Central African 

Republic 


AFRO 

Zimbabwe 

2


Eastern 

AFRO 

Chad 

Mediterranean EMRO Afghanistan 



AFRO 

Comoro 

Mediterranean EMRO Djibouti 



AFRO 

Congo 

Mediterranean EMRO Egypt 



AFRO 

Côte d’Ivoire Mediterranean EMRO Iraq 



AFRO 

DR Congo 

Mediterranean EMRO Morocco 



AFRO 

Equatorial Guinea Mediterranean EMRO Pakistan 


AFRO 

Eritrea 


EMRO 

Somalia 

Africa AFRO Ethiopia Africa EMRO Sudan 


AFRO 

Gabon 


Mediterranean EMRO Yemen 

Africa AFRO Gambia Asia EURO Azerbaijan 

Africa AFRO Ghana Asia EURO Kyrgyzstan 

Africa AFRO Guinea Asia EURO Tajikistan 

Africa AFRO Guinea-Bissau Asia EURO Turkmenistan 


AFRO 

Kenya 

Asia 

EURO 

Uzbekistan 

Africa AFRO Lesotho Asia SEARO Bangladesh 

Africa AFRO Liberia Asia SEARO DPRK 

Africa AFRO Madagascar Asia SEARO India 


AFRO 

Malawi 


SEARO 

Indonesia 

Africa AFRO Mali Asia SEARO Myanmar 

Africa AFRO Mauritania Asia SEARO Nepal 

Africa AFRO Mozambique Asia WPRO Cambodia 

Africa AFRO Niger Asia WPRO China 

Africa AFRO Nigeria Asia WPRO Lao PDR 



Papua New 

AFRO 

Rwanda 

WPRO 

Guinea 


Sao Tome and Asia 

AFRO 

Principe 

WPRO 

Philippines 



Solomon 

AFRO 

Senegal 

WPRO 

Islands 

Africa AFRO Sierra Leone Asia WPRO Viet Nam 

Africa AFRO South Africa 

The status of country CRVS assessments is shown in attachment 4. 

HMN AFRICA REGIONAL NETWORK PLAN 

HMN support to Africa in 2012–13 is directed to the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement 

of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS). This allows HMN to leverage the work of the 

MOVE-IT initiative, support the acceleration of Recommendation One of the UN Commission on 

Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health and use tools that have been 

developed immediately in country. 

The APAI-CRVS and the regional medium-term plan (MTP) (2011) are outcomes of the 

recommendations from the regional workshop on CRVS in Dar es-Salaam, United Republic of 

Tanzania, in June 2009. The proposed plan was discussed during the meeting of experts for the 

organization of the conference of African ministers responsible for civil registration in August 2010 

and was endorsed by the ministers. The MTP is a guiding tool for countries, regional and 

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international organizations for managing interventions and monitoring achievements in civil 

registration and vital statistics systems in Africa from 2010 to 2015. 

The African ministers responsible for civil registration met in Cape Town on 3–5 September 2012 and 

recommended that all African states should conduct comprehensive assessments of their CRVS 

systems and develop national plans to guide national improvement processes. This is consistent with 

Recommendation One of the COIA. 

Goal 

The medium-term plan is aimed at supporting African governments in building sustainable and 

accountable institutions and measure and monitor their respective development efforts. 

Objectives and targets 

The overall objective of the medium-term plan is two-fold: 

1. improve the capacity of national government administrations in managing the recording and 

service provision of vital events 

2. capacitate national vital statistics compiling offices in the production and dissemination of 

flow of demographic and health statistics for subnational/local, national, regional and 

international consumption. 

The specific objectives and targets of the plan are to: 

1: improve coverage of civil registration in Member States 

2: improve completeness of birth and death registration in Member States 

3: improve completeness of marriage and divorce registration in Member States 

4: improve completeness of birth and death vital statistics in Member States 

5: improve completeness of marriage and divorce vital statistics in Member States 

6: improve timeliness, quality and use of vital statistics in Member States 

7: improve accessibility and use of civil registration records in promoting good governance 

8: establish integrated population registers/databases. 

Regional partners 

The APAI-CRVS programme is steered by UNECA as the secretariat, with the support of a CRVS core 

group composed of the AfDB, AUC, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations 

Population Fund (UNFPA), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 

the World Health Organization (WHO), the Health Metrics Network (HMN) and the secretariat of the 

African Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD), representing African countries. 

HMN Africa work plan 2012–13 

The HMN contribution to the Africa network work plan is summarized below. 

1. Provide leadership on a common agenda for CRVS strengthening and mobilize partners, regional 

organizations, donors and stakeholders working with and supporting CRVS strengthening to build a network 

of partners to strengthen country CRVS 

1. Memorandums of understanding negotiated with UNECA and ASSD to collaborate on APAI- 

CRVS. 

2. Participation in the APAI-CRVS core group. 

4

3. Participation in East African Inter Parliamentary Union Retreat on Improving Information to 

Secure Women’s and Children’s Health and Health Related MDGs, Arusha, 26–27 May 2012 

(attachment 1). 

4. Participation in Africa Ministers Meeting, Durban, September 2012 (attachment 2). 

5. Mobilization and funding of health sector representatives to the Africa Ministers Meeting. 

6. Hosting of a technical meeting between UNECA and HMN in Geneva on support for the 

APAI-CRVS programme on 8 and 9 October 2012 to discuss follow-up on recommendations 

of the Ministers Meeting for all countries to undertake comprehensive CRVS assessments 

and plans. 

7. “Improving cause of death and AIDS mortality surveillance in Africa”, 15–16 November 2012, 

Cape Town, South Africa. The meeting is organized by WHO in collaboration with the South 

Africa Medical Research Centre, the ALPHA Network, INDEPTH Network and Health Metrics 

Network. 

8. Support in the organization and technical contribution to the ASSD Meeting on Death and 

Cause of Death, 27–29 November 2012, Côte d’Ivoire. 

9. HMN Global Partners Forum, March 2013, followed by Africa resource mobilization meeting. 

10. Draft information sheet linking COIA country workshops with APAI-CRVS prepared 

(attachment 3). 

2. Technically support country CRVS progress, develop analytical capacity to assess data quality and 

interpret CRVS for policy, advocacy and resource mobilization 

1. Support for comprehensive CRVS assessments in Egypt and Burkina Faso. 

2. Africa data repository on CRVS commenced in collaboration with UNECA. 

3. Provide capacity development for countries to improve their CRVS and the tools to guide them 

including: dissemination of tools in CRVS assessment, planning and strengthening and tracking of their CRVS 

systems; dissemination of evidence, lessons learned and innovations; and development of regional and 

country capacity to support and strengthen CRVS 

1. Support to the young statisticians programme to build CRVS capacity. 

2. Translation of CRVS assessment tools into French and Arabic. 

3. Draft modules developed on marriages and divorces. 

4. Module on CRVS ICT assessment under development in collaboration with WHO KMS. 

5. CRVS country facilitators training completed in Pretoria (10 countries); another is planned in 

March 2013. 

6. Sponsorship for CRVS short course, University of Queensland, Australia (10 participants from 

Africa). 

4. Foster and accelerate innovation in CRVS 

1.Systematic review of eCRVS and mCRVS innovations. 

HMN ASIA–PACIFIC NETWORK (INCLUDING CENTRAL ASIA) 

HMN support to Asia–Pacific aligns with and supports the Regional Strategic Plan for the 

Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific (attachment 3). 

This allows HMN to leverage the work of the MOVE-IT initiative, support the acceleration of 

Recommendation One of the UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and 

Children’s Health and use tools that have been developed immediately in country. 

5

The Regional Strategic Plan for the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and 

the Pacific will be presented to a high-level meeting of representatives from statistics, civil 

registration and health in December 2012 in Bangkok. 

Goal 

The goal of the Regional Strategic Plan is, through improved civil registration and the increased 

availability and use of reliable vital statistics derived from civil registration systems, to contribute to 

the improvement of evidence-based policy-making, efficiency in resource allocation and good 

governance, as well as the progressive realization of the basic rights of all individuals. 

Outcomes 

The Regional Strategic Plan has the following outcomes. 

Outcome A. Public awareness 

Enhanced public awareness of the value of civil registration and vital statistics systems and actions 

taken to remove barriers to registration at all levels. 

Outcome B. Political commitment 

Sustained political commitment to support the development and improvement of civil registration 

and vital statistics systems. 

Outcome C. Investments 

Sufficient and sustainable investments towards incremental improvements in civil registration and 

vital statistics systems. 

Outcome D. Policies, legislation and implementation of regulations 

Improved and strengthened policies, legislation and implementation of regulations for civil 

registration and vital statistics systems. 

Outcome E. Legal documentation 

Improved availability and quality of legal documentation for all individuals. 

Outcome F. Statistics on vital events 

Increased technical capacity of countries in Asia and the Pacific to record, compile, analyse and 

disseminate complete and reliable statistics on vital events. 

Outcome G. Coordination among key stakeholders 

Mechanisms established for effective coordination among key stakeholders within civil registration 

and vital statistics systems. 

Outcome H. Use of vital statistics 

Increased technical capacity of countries in the region to effectively use vital statistics. 

Regional partners 

The Asia–Pacific regional programme key partners are: 

1. UNESCAP Statistics Division 

2. Asian Development Bank (ADB) 

3. Heath Metrics Network 

4. University of Queensland Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub 

6

5. World Health Organization (WPRO, SEARO, EURO and HQ) 

6. Secretariat for the Pacific Community 

7. Australian Bureau of Statistics 

8. UNICEF 

9. UNFPA. 

A core group has been convened to support the development of a draft work plan to implement the 

draft regional medium-term plan for discussion at a high-level regional meeting of decision-makers 

from national statistical organizations, civil registration offices, ministries of health and other 

relevant stakeholders to raise awareness and increase political will and commitment to improving 

civil registration and vital statistics in December 2012 (to be funded by HMN). The high-level 

meeting will provide the springboard for a ministerial level meeting in early 2013, the goal of which 

will be to catalyse political commitment, mobilize resources and provide the impetus for the launch 

of a regional plan for CRVS. 

Other regional partners and subregional networks will also be engaged as the implementation 

programme proceeds, particularly the consortium of development and implementing partners 

currently enabling an intensive CRVS strengthening effort in the Pacific (i.e. the Brisbane Accord 

Group) led by the Secretariat for the Pacific Community and the University of Queensland Health 

Information Systems Knowledge Hub. 

HMN Asia–Pacific work plan 2012–13 

The HMN contribution to the Asia–Pacific work plan is summarized below. 


organizations, donors and stakeholders working with and supporting CRVS strengthening to build a 

network of partners to strengthen country CRVS 

1. Memorandum of understanding negotiated with UNESCAP to collaborate on the CRVS 

regional programme. 

2. Participation in the regional programme core group. 

3. Support for the high-level meeting on CRVS, 10–11 December in Bangkok. 

4. Preparation of background papers on CRVS for the high-level meeting. 

5. STC to work with UNESCAP to support preparations for the high-level meeting. 

6. Partial funding for a WHO technical officer in WPRO to provide the technical lead for HMN 

activities in the Asia–Pacific region. 

7. HMN Global Partners Forum, March 2013. 



1. Support for CRVS assessments in SEARO, WPRO and EURO. 

2. Asia data repository on CRVS commenced in collaboration with UNESCAP. 

3. Translation of CRVS assessment tools into Russian. 



7



1. CRVS facilitator training Bangkok for 12 countries, October 2012. 

2. Central Asia Death and COD meeting October 2012 in Bishkek. 


4. Module on CRVS ICT assessment under development in collaboration with WHO 

KMS. 

5. Sponsorship for CRVS short course, University of Queensland, Australia. 


1. MOVE-IT investigators Asia meeting, May 2012. 

2. Systematic review of eCRVS and mCRVS innovations. 

3. HMN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN NETWORK 

The recent political changes in the region have highlighted the importance of having effective 

policies and processes to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in all sectors. The 

urgency and opportunity for interventions for more effective governance in the region has never 

been more evident than it is today. Effective governance means competent management of a 

country’s resources that is demonstrated in the way policies are developed and decisions are made 

at all levels in a manner that is open, transparent, accountable, equitable and responsive to people’s 

needs. This can never be achieved without a strong country information system that is 

comprehensive, integrating all sectors, including health. 

Improving health systems represents a common policy goal in the region, hence, institutions are 

expected to assume responsibilities to promote and deliver equitable and effective health services. 

Strengthening information, transparency and accountability is a key facet in this process. 

Also, within the context of the current upheavals, the region has attracted strong global political 

attention and willingness of donor countries to provide financial support to the restructuring of the 

region. Therefore, the region has a pressing need for information and accountability to support the 

aid effectiveness process, policy development and evidence-based decision-making in several 

sectors, including health, health information systems and civil registration and vital statistics. 

The WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO RD) has committed his leadership 

to the CRVS agenda in EMRO. He has already engaged HMN in a briefing of all country 

representatives in the region on CRVS and has requested them all to work with countries to 

undertake rapid assessments in 2012. HMN has provided support for these rapid assessments. The 

EMRO RD has reached out to UNESCWA, UNESCAP and UNECA to actively promote collaboration in 

the region. HMN will support the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in holding a 

multi-country stakeholder meeting on CRVS in the first quarter of 2013. 

Eastern Mediterranean work plan 2012–13 

The HMN contribution to the Eastern Mediterranean work plan is summarized below. 


organizations, donors and stakeholders working with and supporting CRVS strengthening to build a 

network of partners to strengthen country CRVS 

8

1. Memorandums of understanding discussions commenced with League of Arab States. 

2. HMN Global Partners Forum, March 2013. 



1. Support for rapid CRVS assessments in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in 2012. 

2. Translation of CRVS assessment tools into Arabic. 





1. CRVS facilitator training in Bangkok for four representatives from Egypt, October 

2012. 


3. Module on CRVS ICT assessment under development in collaboration with WHO 

KMS. 

4. Sponsorship for CRVS short course, University of Queensland, Australia. 

5. CRVS country facilitators training planned for EMRO in January 2013. 


1. Systematic review of eCRVS and mCRVS innovations. 

9

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 

1. Concluding Statement, East Africa Inter Parliamentary Union Meeting, Tanzania, 2012 

2. Ministerial Statement, Conference of Ministers for Civil Registration, 6-7 September, 

Durban, 2012 

3. Information sheet on APAI CRVS for COIA country roadmap workshops 

4. Draft regional plan on CRVS for Asia and Pacific 

5. Country CRVS assessment update 

6. Revised HMN Budgets for regions 

10

ATTACHMENT ONE 

Improving Information to Secure 

Women’s and Children’s Health and Health Related 

MDGs 

Arusha, 26 - 27 May 2012 

Concluding Statement 

We, Members of the General Purpose Committee of the East Africa Legislative 

Assembly (EALA), representatives of National Parliaments from East Africa 1 as 

well as experts from the region on maternal, new born and child health 

(MNCH), gathered in Arusha on 26 and 27 May 2012 for a seminar to identify 

actions which parliaments in the East Africa region can take to promote 

maternal, new born and child health in the East Africa region. 

We acknowledge that East African Partner States have made some 

achievements in addressing maternal, new born and child health. However, 

death rates are still very high, access to life saving antiretroviral drugs still 

low as is access to family planning services. We feel strongly that MNCH is 

the future of humanity and that more needs to be done in this area. 

The improvement of women’s and children’s health requires continuous, 

accurate, up-to-date and timely data that covers the entire population at any 

one time. This is because information is essential for public health 

interventions, policy-making and planning the optimum deployment of 

infrastructure for programming and for accountability. We noted with 

concerns that such quality data is not readily available in the region. 

Countries in the region currently generate information through annual health 

sector reviews, monitor progress and performance in health delivery and 

they are making efforts to improve the tracking of financing allocated for 

health. However, there are widespread gaps and data quality issues for core 

1 Members of Parliaments from Burundi, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (including Zanzibar) participated in the 

seminar 

11

indicators of MNCH. We also noted concerns with regards to data sharing; 

where data is available, capacity issues often result in the limited use of the 

data. In particular, we noted that Partner States have made little progress 

towards developing reliable systems for civil registration and recording vital 

statistics. What is required is national commitment to improve civil 

registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in EAC. 

Parliamentarians have a role to play to ensure the required political will for 

effective and efficient CRVS systems, to promote accountability mechanisms 

(oversight) and high level commitment to achieving results in this area. 

Parliamentarians also have a critical role in promoting the proper 

management and use of health information and the strengthening of health 

information systems in the interests of promoting overall accountable 

governance as well as accountability for the health of women and children. 

Several opportunities exist for parliamentarians to contribute to ongoing 

efforts for accelerating the achievement of MNCH and for improving CRVS. 

We therefore undertake: 

- To urge members of parliaments in Member States to hold governments 

to account for the provision of maternal, new born and child health, 

including delivering on all commitments made to national, regional and 

global initiatives including the Global Strategy for Women’s and 

Children’s Health, the Abuja commitment on allocating at least 15% of 

national budgets to improve the health sector, national roadmaps to 

reduce maternal mortality and the recent IPU resolution on the role of 

parliamentarians in ensuring maternal new-born and child health as a 

right; 

- To underscore the role of leaders at all levels of society in promoting 

maternal, new born and child health and commit to encouraging them to 

work towards the realisation of MNCH; 

- To making quality health information the basis of our contributions to 

12

advocacy, policymaking and oversight including budget scrutiny and 

approval; 

- To ensure enabling and enforced legal frameworks for the development, 

maintenance, appropriate and comprehensive use of health information; 

In furtherance of the above objectives we propose following specific actions: 

Urge the IPU and EAC to cooperate in periodically re-packaging information 

on maternal, new born and child health to make it user friendly for 

parliamentarians; 

Urge EALA to develop an action plan for bringing the parliamentary 

perspective into on-going initiatives on improving civil registration and vital 

statistics; 

Implore EALA and the IPU to support meetings of national parliaments with 

Human Rights Commissions within their countries to adopt a rights approach 

to the issue of MNCH; 

Request EALA to compile a record of successful MNCH parliamentary 

practices in East Africa for the purposes of sharing with Partner States; 

Urge National Parliaments which have adopted the IPU resolution, Access to 

health as a basic right: the role of parliaments in addressing key challenges to 

securing the health of women and children, to report to the IPU periodically on the 

implementation of the resolution; 

Encourage National Parliaments to advocate for better information on and for 

prioritising provision of essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn 

and child health services to vulnerable women and children, including those 

with disabilities, those in the poorest households, those living in rural areas 

and those living with HIV/AIDS; 

13

Urge relevant committees to facilitate briefings in National Assemblies and 

EALA to raise awareness on CVRS; 

Urge Partner States to develop strategies for the use of information and 

communication technologies (ICT) for collecting, sharing and analysing data 

on maternal newborn and child health (including but not limited to ehealth, 

tele-medicine etc.); 

Urge Partner National Parliaments to deliberate on and support the 

resolutions made during this meeting; 

Urge the General Purpose Committee to advocate that EALA increases the 

resources allocated for its activities on maternal, new born and child health; 

We re-emphasize our commitment to working with other stakeholders 

including United Nations agencies, civil society and faith based organisations 

to improve records on vital statistics in our countries. 

Done, this 27 th day of May 2012 at Arusha, Tanzania 

14

ATTACHMENT TWO 

SECOND CONFERENCE OF AFRICAN MINISTERS 

RESPONSIBLE FOR CIVIL REGISTRATION 

Durban International Convention Centre 

Durban, South Africa 

6-7 September 2012 

United Nations African Union African Development Bank Republic of South Africa 

Commission 

MINISTERIAL STATEMENT 

15

Preamble 

We, the African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration: 

1. Held our Second Conference on 6 and 7 September 2012 in Durban, South Africa, on the theme, 

Improving Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Institutional and Human Infrastructure. The conference was 

jointly organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African 

Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Government of the 

Republic of South Africa, supported by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations 

Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World 

Health Organisation (WHO) and Health Metrics Network (HMN); 

2. Take this opportunity to express our heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of 

Ethiopia for the death of His Excellency, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose commitment and 

passion for Africa’s development has contributed to placing CRVS on the development agenda of 

African countries. We also express our condolences to the Government and people of Ghana for the 

death of His Excellency, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana, for 

his contribution to the development of Africa. We further express our condolences to the 

Government and people of Malawi for the death of His Excellency, Bingu wa Mutharika, President 

of the Republic of Malawi, for his contribution to the development of Africa. 

3. Welcome the Republic of South Sudan as a new member of the Conference; 

4. Recall the commitments made at our first conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in August 2010 

to consider and prioritize civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) as a regional policy agenda, and 

take steps to reform and improve CRVS systems in our countries. In this regard, we acknowledge 

that the theme of our second conference is both timely and relevant for achieving viable, sustainable 

and efficient CRVS systems in Africa; 

5. Note with satisfaction the decision of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the 

African Union (Ref; Assembly/AU/DEC.424) endorsing the recommendation of our first 

conference on the institutionalisation of the Conference as a standing regional forum of the African 

Union to deal with matters concerning civil registration; 

6. Commend the progress and achievements made by Member States, since the first conference in 

August 2010, in improving civil registration and vital statistics systems, including the contribution of 

African regional organizations, various UN organizations and other development partners; 

7. Commend the CRVS Secretariat at UNECA on its current efforts in coordinating international and 

regional interventions by creating regional platforms such as the CRVS regional Core Group and 

stakeholders forum; 

8. Commend and welcome the contribution of the Young African Statisticians (YAS) in the 

development of CRVS in Africa, including their participation in this Conference; 

9. Welcome the participation and contribution of non-governmental organizations, including the role of 

the private sector in the future development of CRVS systems in Africa; 

10. Recognize that civil registration is a regular government operation with far reaching implications for 

national security, policy, governance, planning, development monitoring and evaluation; 

11. Are aware of the challenges that our countries continue to face in the development of CRVS systems, 

especially the scandal of invisibility, as highlighted in the report of the comprehensive regional 

assessment undertaken by the Secretariat and reiterated by His Excellency Jacob Zuma, President of 

16

the Republic of South Africa; 

12. Recognize the continuing importance of CRVS in advancing Africa’s development agenda, including 

accelerating regional integration, attaining the priorities of NEPAD, and meeting the Millennium 

Development Goals (MDGs); 

13. Take note of the recommendations by the Experts Group Meeting, preceding this conference, to 

address the challenges of developing CRVS systems in Africa. 

14. Note that the challenge before us now is to reaffirm our commitment and scale up efforts to reform 

and improve CRVS systems in our countries. In this regard, we fully endorse the recommendations 

of our experts on strategies for improving CRVS as well as the proposed Africa Programme on 

Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS) for improvement of 

CRVS at national and regional level. . 

15. In light of the recommendations we hereby resolve to: 

a. Continue our efforts to develop appropriate policies and strategies to reform and improve 

our CRVS systems, and to mainstream them in national development plans and programmes, 

taking into consideration the specific circumstances of our countries. In this regard, we 

commit to urgently develop costed national plans of action on CRVS that reflect individual 

country priorities based on comprehensive assessments to be undertaken with the support of 

the Secretariat and partner organizations; 

b. Formulate laws and policies that ensure timely and compulsory registration of all vital events 

occurring within our countries, with guarantees of equal access to the system for all persons, 

regardless of nationality or legal status. In this regard, we commit to continue our efforts in 

revising and updating civil registration and statistical legislation in our respective countries in 

line with regional and international guidelines and taking into account the evolving needs and 

innovations; 

c. Adopt appropriate technologies to speed and scale up civil registration, manage civil 

registration records, and ensure their integrity and security against natural disasters, civil wars, 

etc.; 

d. Accord high priority to CRVS and ensure allocation of adequate human and financial 

resources for the day-to-day operations of CRVS in our countries, including implementation 

of the national action plans in order to ensure sustainability and country ownership; 

e. Call upon our development partners to continue to support our efforts in capacity building 

and resource mobilization and align their support to the national CRVS plans, consistent 

with the Paris, Accra and Busan Declarations on Aid and Development Effectiveness; 

f. Invite the independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for 

Women’s and Children’s Health to participate in the APAI-CRVS 

g. Establish high-level coordination mechanisms involving all relevant stakeholders for efficient 

functioning of CRVS systems, taking into account the multi-sectoral and integrated nature of 

civil registration services; 

h. Ensure the alignment of health information management system and the CRVS systems and 

that both be mainstreamed into National Strategies for the Development of Statistics 

(NSDS); 

i. Further strengthen and facilitate coordination between National Statistical Offices and Civil 

17

Way forward 

Registration Authorities in managing and monitoring the challenges of CRVS systems; 

j. Develop results-based monitoring and evaluation systems and tools to monitor and report 

on progress on CRVS; 

k. Continue to take steps to improve the availability and accessibility of civil registration 

services by devolving services to local levels through existing structures and service 

networks, in particular the health sector; 

l. Intensify awareness-raising campaigns to educate the public on the importance and 

procedures of CRVS to ensure their effective functioning; 

We urge: 

16. Member States to undertake in-depth assessment of the state of their national civil registration 

systems and develop a strategic and action plans for improving CRVS; 

17. The Secretariat and other partner organizations to continue to provide technical support to reinforce 

the capacity of member States in CRVS operations and management through technical advisory 

services, workshops, training and provision of guidelines. In this regard, we request the Secretariat to 

establish a regional knowledge hub on CRVS that promotes research to build technical capacity at the 

national, sub-regional and regional levels. We also request the Secretariat to undertake operational 

research in the area of death registration and certification of cause of death in Africa; 

18. Member States and development partners to reinforce the CRVS Secretariat at UNECA with 

adequate resources and appropriate staff complement to enable it carry out its mandate as 

recommended by the first Ministerial conference; 

19. Invite African Ministers of Health to join us in view of the important role of the health sector in the 

delivery of civil registration services to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach in addressing 

the challenges of improving CRVS systems in Africa; 

20. Relevant national universities, regional research and training institutions to respond to the knowledge 

demand in improving death registration and causes of death certification in countries with the 

support from development partners; 

21. The African Union to allocate the necessary financial and technical resources in support of the CRVS 

development agenda; 

We reaffirm: 

22. Our commitment to make the conference a dynamic forum that is used to discuss policy and strategic 

issues related to improving CRVS systems in Africa; 

23. In this regard, we undertake to support the AUC in its implementation processes; 

Vote of thanks 

We thank His Excellency, President Jacob Zuma and the Government and people of the Republic of 

South Africa for hosting this Conference and for the excellent arrangements and hospitality accorded to 

all delegations. 

We also thank the Premier of KwaZulu Natal Province and Mayor of the City of Durban for their warm 

hospitality. 

18

We express our deepest appreciation to His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, for gracing the conference 

with his presence and his inspiring opening speech. 

We also express our sincere appreciation to the Honourable Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of 

Home Affairs of South Africa and incoming Chairperson of the African Union Commission for the able 

manner in which she chaired the Conference. 

We congratulate the Minister over her recent election as the Chairperson of the AUC and look forward to 

working with her to move the CRVS agenda forward in her new capacity. 

We thank His Excellency Mr. Birhan Hailu, Minister of Justice of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the 

Bureau of our Conference as well as all the other members of the Bureau for their leadership over the 

past two years; 

We also thank UNECA, AUC, AfDB, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO and HMN and other partners 

for their presentations and the support provided in organizing the conference. 

We look forward to our next Conference to be hosted by the Government of Cote d’Ivoire in September 

2014. 

19

INFORMATION SHEET ON THE AFRICA PROGRAMME ON 

ACCELERATED IMPROVEMENT OF CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL 

STATISTICS (APAI-CRVS) 

FOR UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON INFORMATION AND 

ACCOUNTABILITY (COIA) COUNTRIES IN AFRICA 

PURPOSE: TO INFORM COIA COUNTRIES IN AFRICA ON THE APAI-CRVS 

PROGRAM AND PRIORITIES FOR COUNTRY CRVS STRENGTHENING. 

What is Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)? 

CRVS systems comprise the total process of: i 

• Collecting information on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events pertaining to 

the population (primarily birth, death, marriage and divorce, but also adoption, 

legitimation, recognition of parenthood, annulment of marriage and legal separation); 

and 

• Generating vital statistics through the compilation, analysis, evaluation, presentation 

and dissemination of data. 

Proper functioning of the CRVS system requires the engagement of many stakeholders. An 

example of a country's CRVS operational model is shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1: Structure of CRVS operations and key stakeholders ii 

The Africa Program on Accelerated Improvement of CRVS (APAI-CRVS) 

APAI-CRVS is a continental-wide initiative to support countries in strengthening their CRVS 

systems. The Programme was commissioned by African ministers responsible for civil 

registration during their first conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in August 2010. The 

ministers in their meeting declared the necessary political commitment for CRVS systems 

improvement and requested the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union 

Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), to 

20

provide leadership and guidance to African Member States in the realization of well functioning 

CRVS systems. 

APAI-CRVS attempts to provide management and programmatic guidance to African countries 

in improving their CRVS systems. The regional programme is based on international standards, 

principles, processes, tools and recommendations of CRVS. The CRVS systems strengthening 

process adopts a comprehensive sector-wide approach, in line with the policy directives of 

African ministers in charge of civil registration, that urged for a holistic and integrated approach 

to reforming and improving CRVS systems. 

The African regional programme is steered by UNECA as the Secretariat, with the support of a 

CRVS core group composed of the AfDB, AUC, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United 

Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the 

World Health Organisation (WHO), the Health Metrics Network (HMN) and the Secretariat of 

the African Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD), representing Africa Member States. 

The African Ministerial Recommendation on CRVS System Strengthening 

The African ministers responsible for civil registration recommended that all African Member 

States should conduct comprehensive assessments of their CRVS systems and develop national 

plans to guide the improvement process in countries. 

Linkages to the UN Commission for Information and Accountability 

In 2011, the COIA convened by WHO at the request of the UN Secretary-General recommended 

that countries, as a priority, increase their efforts to strengthen CRVS. iii . The COIA countries are 

therefore strongly urged to utilize the COIA accountability workshops, as a means to prioritise 

CRVS in their country road maps. APAI-CRVS and COIA Recommendation One are the same 

agenda. 

Country Support 

The APAI-CRVS Secretariat urges countries to prioritise funding from the 250,000 USD country 

road map allocation from the COIA for CRVS. 

The package support offered by the regional Secretariat for countries that prioritize CRVS 

consists of: 

1. Technical support from CRVS experts to support countries in conducting the 

assessments, developing national plans 

2. Guidelines, manuals and tools to guide the assessment process 

3. Resource mobilization assistance for countries for implementation of their plan. 

Countries interested in accessing support should contact: 

Raj Gautam Mitra, Chief 

Demographic and Social Statistics Section,African Centre for Statistics 

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

Tel: +251 11 544 3144 Email: rmitra@uneca.org 

21

ATTACHMENT FOUR 

Regional Strategic Plan for the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital 

Statistics in Asia and the Pacific 

3 October 2012 

ADVANCE DRAFT 

ESCAP Statistics Division 

Introduction 23 

The role of civil registration and vital statistics systems 24 

The impetus for regional action 25 

A broad development partnership 29 

Goal and scope 30 

Guiding principles 30 

Outcomes and activities 31 

Outcome A: Public awareness 6 

Outcome B: Political commitment 6 

Outcome C: Investments 6 

Outcome D: Policies, legislation and implementation of regulations 6 

Outcome E: Legal documentation 6 

Outcome F: Statistics on vital events 6 

Outcome G: Coordination among key stakeholders 6 

Outcome H: Use of vital statistics 6 

Implementation steps 37 

Governance and coordination 38 

Regional Steering and Coordination Group (RSCG) 38 

Regional Support Office (RSO) 39 

National coordination 39 

Monitoring 40 

Annual progress assessment reports 40 

Periodic monitoring reports 40 

Annex 1: Proposed monitoring framework 41 

Annex 2: Rapid self-assessments of CRVS systems in Asia and the Pacific 44 

Annex 3: Development partners [Awaiting confirmation from partners] 47 

PLEASE NOTE 

The present advance draft has been prepared by ESCAP with inputs from UN organizations and other development partners for the 

purpose of consultations prior to the High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, to be held in 

Bangkok on 10-11 December 2012. 

22

INTRODUC TION 

“To make people count, we first need to be able to count 

people.” 

- LEE Jong-Wook, WHO Director-General, 2003–2006 

Address to WHO staff July 21, 2003 

1. The Regional Strategic Plan for the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and 

the Pacific (the “Regional Strategic Plan”) represents a commitment by countries and development partners to 

make sustained and coordinated efforts to improve the coverage and completeness of civil registration and 

the availability and quality of vital statistics in Asia and the Pacific by 2020. 

2. The impetus for the Regional Strategic Plan arises from recognition amongst countries and 

development partners in Asia and the Pacific that: 2 

a. Functional and reliable civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are an important 

national resource because: 

i. for society: the services that they enable and the statistics that they produce are the 

foundation for building a modern, efficient and informed public administration 

system; and 

ii. for individuals: they are crucial for realizing human, legal and economic rights, and for 

social protection and integration; 

b. Many countries in Asia and the Pacific do not have adequate CRVS systems and some are in 

urgent need of improvement; and 

c. Concerted improvement is most definitely achievable. 

3. Bearing the opportunities and challenges in mind, the Regional Strategic Plan aims to achieve eight 

feasible and measurable outcomes: 

A. Enhanced public awareness of the value of civil registration and vital statistics systems and 

actions taken to remove barriers to registration at all levels; 

B. Sustained political commitment to support the development and improvement of civil 

registration and vital statistics systems; 

C. Sufficient and sustainable investments towards incremental improvements in civil registration 

and vital statistics systems; 

D. Improved and strengthened policies, legislation and implementation of regulations for civil 

registration and vital statistics systems; 

E. Improved availability and quality of legal documentation for all individuals; 

F. Increased technical capacity of countries in Asia and the Pacific to record, compile, analyze and 

disseminate complete and reliable statistics on vital events; 

G. Mechanisms established for effective coordination among key stakeholders within civil 

registration and vital statistics systems; and 

2 See ESCAP resolution 67/12, available at . 

23

H. Increased technical capacity of countries in the region to effectively use vital statistics. 

4. The Regional Strategic Plan supports national action to improving CRVS systems by bringing countries 

and development partners together to share knowledge, experience and resources. It aims to raise awareness 

of the benefits and feasibility of improving CRVS systems, particularly for developing countries, and the 

regional support that is available from many development partners that cover a wide range of issues and 

perspectives. 

5. Reflecting the multi-sectoral nature of CRVS systems, the Regional Strategic Plan brings together 

relevant government stakeholders, including civil registration offices, national statistics offices (NSOs), and 

ministries of health, as well as civil society. Improved coordination and collaboration within countries, and 

amongst development partners, is both the means and an expected outcome of the Regional Strategic Plan. 

6. The Regional Strategic Plan recognizes that improving the quality, coverage and efficiency of CRVS 

systems is increasingly feasible due to the availability of advanced technologies, resource kits, tools and 

methods, and a better understanding of how they can be applied. 3 For example information and 

communication technologies (ICT), such as mobile technology, have the potential to facilitate lower cost, 

speedier and higher quality collection, transmission, storage and dissemination of data, as well as serving to 

overcome the physical and logistical challenges of civil registration in remote, isolated, small island and 

mountainous areas. 

THE ROLE OF CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEMS 

7. Civil registration consists of the compulsory, permanent, continuous and universal recording of the 

occurrence and characteristics of vital events. 4 For individuals, civil registration systems are a unique and 

critical service. Through the official recording of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoption, individuals 

have the documentary evidence on which to base claims of identity and family relationships, legal status, and 

ensuing rights, and secure access to services such as health, education, social welfare and protection. Legal 

proof of identity brings individuals into the modern economy by enabling them to seek employment, exercise 

electoral rights, claim inheritance, transmit property, open bank accounts, access credits, obtain passports and 

get driving licenses. 

8. Universal civil registration is crucial because it helps safeguard human rights. Every individual has the 

right to a documentary evidence of identity from birth, and for that proof of identity to be securely registered 

and to publicly recognize relationships with family and significant others. In March 2012, the United Nations 

(UN) Human Rights Council reaffirmed, "…the human right of everyone to be recognized everywhere as a 

person before the law…” 5 Moreover, by providing legal and social identity to individuals, civil registration 

enables individuals to access benefits, as internationally agreed on, inter alia, in the United Nations Millennium 

3 HISHub, 2012, Strengthening practice and systems in civil registration and vital statistics: A Resource Kit, University of Queensland: Health 

Information Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 19, available at < 

http://www.uq.edu.au/hishub/docs/WP_19.pdf >. 

4 A system of civil registration includes all institutional, legal and technical settings needed to perform the civil registration 

functions in a technically sound, coordinated and standardized manner throughout the country, taking into account 

cultural and social circumstances particular to the country. Source: UNSD, 1973, Handbook on Training in Civil Registration and 

Vital Statistics Systems, UN publication, Sales No. 02.XVII.10, available at 

. 

5 See UN Human Rights Council resolution 19/9, available at 

. 

24

Declaration 6 and the Declaration on the Right to Development 7 . In this regard, civil registration is especially 

important for individuals in poverty, migrants, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. 

9. Civil registration systems generate administrative data that can be compiled to produce vital statistics 

that serve the needs of multiple sectors. A well-functioning civil registration system that records vital events 

such as births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adoptions is the most effective and efficient data source of vital 

statistics. 8 Unlike other sources of vital statistics, such as censuses or household surveys, CRVS systems 

generates statistics on population dynamics and health indicators on a continuous basis for the country as a 

whole and at a local level for its administrative sub-divisions. 

10. Vital statistics generated from civil registration significantly contribute to the formulation of effective 

and efficient evidence-based policy across multiple sectors. Reliable information on births and deaths permit 

the calculation and production of timely and accurate population estimates and other demographic and health 

statistics, which are some of the most basic requirements for effective policy-making, efficient resource 

allocation, and accurate evaluation and monitoring. 

11. Well-functioning CRVS systems enhance the credibility of national and local administrators and their 

capacity to deliver services by helping them to identify what services are needed and by whom. When of high 

quality, vital statistics allow governments and donors to consider the direction of resources to the areas of 

most need within a country, and allow citizens, governments and donors to evaluate the use of scarce 

resources. 

THE IMPETUS FOR REGIONAL ACTION 

Aligning with a growing global movement 

12. In 2000, the World’s leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration 9 , which emphasized, the link 

between human rights, good governance and development. The global commitment to the Millennium 

Declaration, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were subsequently established, has led to 

increased recognition of the critical need for reliable, continuous and comparable vital statistics to monitor 

progress, and created momentum to improve these data. As the World gets closer to 2015, attention is 

mounting towards understanding and addressing the challenges posed by the post-MDG development agenda, 

especially related to human rights, equity, sustainable development and access to basic services. With this 

attention, it is becoming even more apparent that the long neglect of CRVS systems in some countries has had 

a detrimental impact on their ability to develop and monitor targeted development policies. 

13. Launched in 2010, the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s 

Health (COIA) was convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the request of the UN Secretary- 

General. The COIA’s 2011 report recommended that all countries, as a priority, increase their efforts to 

strengthen their CRVS systems. 10 The COIA is focusing its support on 74 high-priority countries globally, of 

6 See UN General Assembly resolution 55/2, available at . 

7 See UN General Assembly resolution 41/128, annex, available at 

. 

8 UNSD, 2001, Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 2 , UN p ublication, 

. 

9 Chapter V, see footnote 5. 

Sales No. 01.XVI.10, available at 

10 WHO, 2011, Keeping promises, measuring results: Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, 

available 

at 

. 

25

which 20 are in Asia and the Pacific. 11 The Health Metrics Network (HMN) – a global partnership of countries, 

development agencies and the private sector 12 to strengthen health information systems – is the global lead 

partner for implementing this recommendation. 

14. At the Fourth High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in 2011, the Partnership in 

Statistics for Development in the 21 st Century (PARIS 21) presented the Busan Action Plan 

for Statistics that recognized that, “Reliable and accessible statistics provide the evidence 

needed to improve decision making, document results, and heighten public accountability.” 

13 The first of five action points called on countries to, “…address weaknesses in vital 

registration systems and data critical for monitoring program performance – including 

administrative data, sex disaggregated data, and geospatial information.” 14 PARIS 21 is, 

with the support of HMN, drafting implementation arrangements, which will include actions 

to improve CRVS systems. 

15. A regional initiative to improve CRVS systems is already well underway in Africa. The UN Economic 

Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) sponsored a series of ministerial 

meetings and expert working groups on CRVS in 2010 and 2011, developing a regional Medium Term Plan 

(MTP) for 2010-2015 to support reforms and improve CRVS systems in Africa. 15 The MTP guides countries and 

regional and international organizations in managing interventions and monitoring the progress made in 

strengthening CRVS systems in Africa. Most recently, in September 2012, the Second Conference of African 

Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration urged all ECA member States to undertake an in-depth assessment 

of their CRVS systems and to develop national action plans for improvement. 16 

16. The Americas is also undertaking a comparable regional initiative. The Pan American Health 

Organization (PAHO) has been implementing a Regional Plan of Action for Strengthening Vital and Health 

Statistics 17 since 2008 as part of broader efforts to strengthen health information systems in that region. 

17. In the much of the Pacific sub-region of Asia and the Pacific, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community 

(SPC) has developed the Ten Year Pacific Statistics Strategy 2011-2020. Improving CRVS is one of four priority 

areas of Phase I of this strategy. Subsequently, the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan 2011-2014 was developed 

11 Including: Afghanistan; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Cambodia; China; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; India; Indonesia; 

Kyrgyzstan; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Solomon Islands; 

Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; and Viet Nam. 

12 A complete list of partners is available at . 

13 PARIS 21, 2011, Statistics for Transparency, Accountability, and Results: A Busan Action Plan for Statistics, available at 

. 

14 Ibid. 

15 ECA, 2011, Reforming and Improving Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems in Africa, available at 

. 

16 ECA, 2012, Second Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration Ministerial Statement, available at 

. 

17 PAHO, 2008, Regional Plan of Action for Strengthening Vital and Health Statistics, available at 

. 

26

y eleven development partners 18 that form the Brisbane Accord Group (BAG) in consultation with fifteen 

Pacific countries. 19 The BAG’s objectives are to coordinate, facilitate and support vital statistics (specifically 

births, deaths and cause-of-death) investments in the region through collaborative activities. 

The realities on the ground 

18. Many countries in Asia and the Pacific cannot meet minimum international standards in vital 

statistics. 20 Registration coverage is often incomplete, vital events are not recorded properly and registration 

records do not reach the vital statistics system in a timely manner. Even when vital statistics are available, they 

are often not adequately used to guide decision-making. As a result, many countries have resorted to using 

alternative sources of data on vital events, such as population censuses, household sample surveys, and health 

and demographic surveillance in sentinel sites or sample registration systems to generate vital statistics. 

Although these sources do provide important information on vital events, they cannot replace civil registration 

records as a source of data that is available on a continuous and universal basis and that is disaggregated to a 

level that enables decision makers to identify marginalized groups and vulnerable areas. Moreover, these 

sources do not bring the legal and human rights benefits of civil registration. 21 

19. As of September 2012, thirty-five countries in Asia and the Pacific have conducted a rapid selfassessment 

of their CRVS systems with overall scores ranging from 11 per cent to 96 per cent, revealing the 

wide variation across the region. Five countries 22 in the region have completed or are close to completing a 

comprehensive assessment, and an additional eleven countries 23 are at various stages of that process. The 

assessments are being conducted using standards-based tools 24 developed by the University of Queensland 

Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub (HISHub) 25 and WHO. Annex 2 contains an overview of the rapid 

self-assessment results. 

18 Australian Bureau of Statistics; Fiji National University; Pacific Health Information Network; Queensland University of 

Technology; Secretariat of the Pacific Community; UN Children’s Fund; UN Population Fund; University of New South 

Wales Human Resources for Health Knowledge Hub; University of Queensland; University of Queensland Health 

Information Systems Knowledge Hub; and World Health Organization. 

19 An outline of the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan is available at . 

20 Mikkelsen, L., 2010, Rapid assessment of vital statistics systems: Evaluation of the application of the WHO/ HISHub tool in 26 countries in 

the Asia-Pacific region, University of Queensland: Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 10, 

available at . 

21 See footnote 4. 

22 Indonesia; Maldives; Philippines; Sri Lanka; and Timor-Leste. 

23 Bangladesh; Cambodia; India; Kyrgyzstan; Lao PDR; Malaysia; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Tajikistan; and Thailand. 

24 WHO and HISHub, 2010, Rapid assessment methods for vital statistics systems, University of Queensland: Health Information 

Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 2, available at 

. WHO and HISHub, 2010, Improving the quality of birth, death and 

cause-of-death information: guidance for a standards-based review of country practices, University of Queensland: Health Information 

Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 1, available at 

. 

25 HISHub is one of four knowledge hubs for health funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) 

that work with development partners committed to supporting the MDGs in Asia and the Pacific. More information is 

available at . 

27

20. Based on the tool’s classifications, only eleven, or less than one-third, of the thirty-five countries in 

the region to have taken the rapid self-assessment possess satisfactory CRVS systems that require only minor 

adjustments. 37 per cent of countries have CRVS systems that are classified as weak or dysfunctional. 

21. Other concerning conclusions can be drawn from the rapid self-assessments conducted thus far in 

Asia and the Pacific. With regards to CRVS systems infrastructure, 55 per cent of countries have issues with 

inadequate equipment for civil registration offices to carry out their functions and the same number had 

insufficient training. In terms of completeness of registration, 37 and 46 per cent of countries respectively 

reported that coverage of birth and death registration was below 90 per cent. 19 per cent of countries 

reported that there was absolutely no training on International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and death 

certification given to doctors. 44 per cent of countries indicated that there was little interagency coordination 

or the coordination in place had consequences such as data quality issues, bottlenecks and duplications of 

work. 

22. The findings of the rapid self-assessments confirm the urgency of the Regional Strategic Plan. 

Leveraging regional diversity 

23. The regional approach that characterizes the Regional Strategic Plan is motivated by the huge 

diversity in the state of development and maturity of CRVS systems among countries in Asia and the Pacific. 

The rapid self-assessment results only demonstrate a fraction of those disparities. In some countries, CRVS 

systems are well-established and complete, covering all persons and generating both reliable legal 

documentation and sound vital statistics. At the other extreme, in some countries, CRVS systems are barely 

functioning and serve neither the needs of individuals for legal documentation nor the needs of governments 

and economic and social sectors for statistical information. It is disconcerting that in some settings, the 

coverage and quality of CRVS have declined, especially among poor and marginalized populations. 

24. For the Regional Strategic Plan, the extent of diversity in Asia and the Pacific presents an opportunity 

to draw upon and share a wealth of experience and knowledge to facilitate CRVS capacity development in the 

region. The Regional Strategic Plan will establish a regional platform that has been designed to catalyze the 

sharing of expertise from across the region and globally. It will achieve this by stimulating and fostering 

partnerships, networking and collaboration to more effectively leverage obtainable resources for the benefit 

of the 61 per cent of the world’s population who consider Asia and the Pacific their home. 

25. Given the overall socio-economic development of Asia and the Pacific over the past half-century, and 

the modernization in areas of public policy and administration, the current reality of poor or declining CRVS 

systems in the region must be addressed as soon as possible. The benefits of improving CRVS systems are 

indisputable and far outweigh the costs. 

Building regional momentum 

26. As established earlier, the Regional Strategic Plan is part of a global movement 

stimulated by increased recognition of the value of CRVS as an important national resource 

for individuals and society in every country. The heightened commitment of a wide range of 

development partners has made an array of resources and targeted initiatives available that 

promote the development and improvement of CRVS both globally and also specifically in 

Asia and the Pacific. 

27. The Regional Strategic Plan is a broad initiative driven by practitioners, governments and the 

development community. This initiative began in February 2009 at the first session of the UN Economic and 

28

Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Committee on Statistics, which noted the urgent need for 

improving CRVS systems in the region. As a result, in June 2010, the ESCAP secretariat, in collaboration with 

the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN 

Population Fund (UNFPA), University of Queensland Health Information Systems Hub (HISHub) and WHO, 

organized a regional forum of development partners and representatives from civil registration offices, NSOs 

and ministries of heath of twenty countries that explored ways and means of improving CRVS systems in Asia 

and the Pacific. 

28. Based on the call from the first session of the Committee on Statistics and the recommendations of 

the regional forum, the Committee on Statistics, at its second session in December 2010, endorsed the main 

components of a proposed regional programme for improving CRVS systems in Asia and the Pacific and 

requested the ESCAP secretariat to fully develop the regional programme in close collaboration with countries 

and other relevant development partners. 

29. In May 2011, the 67 th ESCAP Commission endorsed resolution 67/12 26 , calling upon all member and 

associate member States to review and assess the functioning of their CRVS systems, and for the results of 

those assessments to be utilized by all stakeholders to develop and implement comprehensive national 

strategies or plans to improve CRVS systems. The resolution requested the ESCAP Secretariat, in close 

collaboration with development partners, to coordinate and harmonize global, regional and country resources 

to support these efforts. 

30. ESCAP resolution 67/12 also requested that the ESCAP secretariat and partners convene a regional 

High-level Meeting with the objective of raising awareness and fostering increased commitment to improving 

CRVS in Asia and the Pacific. The resolution called for the participation of government decision-makers from 

civil registration offices, NSOs and ministries of health, as well as the development partners including nongovernmental 

organizations (NGOs), civil society, bi-lateral and multi-lateral development agencies, regional 

development banks, intergovernmental bodies and academic institutions. 

A BROAD DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP 

31. Epitomizing the diverse development interests in and commitment for improving CRVS systems in Asia 

and the Pacific, the twenty partners are contributing to the regional initiative that surrounds the Regional 

Strategic Plan. Annex 3 presents the mandate and contributions of partners for the Regional Strategic Plan. 

32. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Health Metrics Network (HMN); 

International Organization for Migration (IOM) Asia and Pacific Regional Office; Office of the High 

Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century 

(PARIS21); Plan International; Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality 

and Empowerment of Women; Royal Thai Government (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Public Health and 

National Statistical Office); Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC); Statistics Division, Department of 

Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations (UNSD); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Asia- 

Pacific Regional Centre; United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); 

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bangkok; United Nations Population 

Fund (UNFPA); United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); United Nations Children's Fund 

(UNICEF); University of Queensland: Health Information System Knowledge Hub (HISHub);United Nations 

Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWOMEN); and World Health Organization 

(WHO). 


29

GOAL AND SCO PE 

33. The goal of the Regional Strategic Plan is, through improved civil registration and the increased 

availability and use of reliable vital statistics derived from civil registration systems, to contribute to the 

improvement of evidence based policy making, efficiency in resource allocation and good governance, as well 

as the progressive realization of the basic rights of all individuals. 

34. In pursuance of this goal, countries commit to, over the period 2012-2020, processes and actions to 

generate political commitment for, assess the current status of, develop and implement multi-sectoral action 

plans for improving, disseminating and using vital statistics for policy and programming, and monitoring and 

evaluating the quality, completeness, and timeliness of CRVS systems. Development partners commit to 

support these actions in a cost-effective and coordinated manner. 

35. The Regional Strategic Plan encompasses all ESCAP member and associate member States other than 

Pacific island States in which work is already underway under the pre-existing Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan 

for 2011-2014. 27 These plans represent parallel and complementary initiatives, and together form a regional 

strategy that will support global initiatives such as the Busan Action Plan for Statistics and the Commission on 

Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health. Coordination and implementation of 

activities in the Pacific Islands will continue to be managed through the existing Pacific Vital Statistics Action 

Plan and the BAG. 

GUIDING PRINCIPL ES 

36. The development of the Regional Strategic Plan has been informed by on-going dialogue among 

country, regional and international partners, the results of which have led to the formation of a set of 

principles to guide the actions of governments and international development partners: 

a. Countries take the lead: The Regional Strategic Plan supports country efforts to build political 

commitment, assess current status of CRVS systems and develop and implement multi-sectoral 

national action plans; 

b. A stepwise approach: The Regional Strategic Plan seeks to harness current strengths in 

countries and supports the development and incremental implementation of feasible and 

sustainable improvement strategies; 

c. Flexibility and responsiveness: Recognizing that there is no single blueprint for improving CRVS 

systems in every setting, the Regional Strategic Plan offers a flexible mix of support activities 

that are responsive to local needs and circumstances; 

d. Consistency with international legal principles: The Regional Strategic Plan is consistent with 

the relevant international legal framework and the principles of non-discrimination; 

e. Building on local expertise and strategies: In recognition of regional diversities, the Regional 

Strategic Plan seeks to harness local knowledge and expertise and ensures that CRVS 

improvement efforts are aligned with, and contribute to existing country and regional health, 

statistical and development strategies; 

f. Partnerships and coordination: The Regional Strategic Plan relies on partnerships and seeks to 

improve coordination among key stakeholders at national, regional and international levels, 

and across all sectors, including business, education, health, labor, social insurance, etc.; and 


30

g. Harmonization and alignment: In order to avoid risks of duplication and overlap, the Regional 

Strategic Plan fosters harmonization among national, regional and international development 

partners, and alignment of support around country-led multi-sectoral national action plans and 

activities. 

OUTCOMES AND ACTIVITI ES 

37. The Regional Strategic Plan will be implemented through a combination of national and regional 

activities. While multi-sectoral national action plans will be developed within the framework of the Regional 

Strategic Plan, each country will determine its own priorities and may choose not to pursue all eight outcomes 

of the Regional Strategic Plan. The country actions outlined below are therefore indicative. Similarly, the 

regional support activities listed for each outcome below are contingent upon the establishment and 

resourcing of a Regional Support Office (RSO) and a Regional Steering and Coordination Group (RSCG). See the 

“Governance and coordination” section for more details. 

OUTCOME A: PUBLIC AWARENESS 

Enhanced public awareness of the value of civil registration and vital statistics 

systems and actions taken to remove barriers to registration at all levels 

38. Civil registration depends upon individuals and families registering vital events. Well-functioning CRVS 

systems are built upon a relationship of mutual trust and accountability between national authorities and the 

public. Complete CRVS systems are respectful of cultural and behavioral sensitivities and actively seek to raise 

public awareness of the importance of registration and the value of sound vital statistics. 

39. Potential country actions: 

a. Develop national advocacy strategies for CRVS targeting diverse audiences and 

stakeholders and focusing in particular on communities, marginalized groups 

and remote populations; 

b. Develop national communications strategies and outreach to underserved 

groups; 

c. Develop multi-sectoral national action plans that include strategies to identify 

and remove barriers to registration, in particular those that impede access by 

persons from marginalized groups; and 

d. Include civil society and NGO representation on national CRVS coordination 

committees. 

40. Regional support activities: 

a. Launch a regional advocacy campaign to heighten the visibility and importance 

of CRVS, such as through the declaration of a year/decade for CRVS and other 

similar region-wide advocacy channels and instruments; 

b. Provide technical and advisory services to support country advocacy events; and 

c. Establish a regional platform, comprising a web repository and other interactive 

features such as a web-based forum, to be complemented by knowledge 

exchange seminars and facilitation of exchange visits. The platform will be 

aimed at promoting the exchange of experiences and information on strategies 

31

and plans to strengthen civil registration and vital statistics systems, report on 

accomplishments, compile lessons learned and foster South-South and peer-topeer 

cooperation to improve civil registration and vital statistics systems. 

OUTCOME B: POLITICAL COMMITMENT 

Sustained political commitment to support the development and improvement of 

civil registration and vital statistics systems 

41. High-level political commitment is a powerful force that can galvanize all stakeholders and levels of 

society around the need for well-functioning CRVS systems. Importantly, high-level political commitment plays 

an essential role in ensuring that relevant government agencies effectively play their part in CRVS systems. In 

terms of allocating resources, political commitment is critical to break the perpetuating circle of neglect of 

underinvestment in CRVS systems. Weak and dysfunctional CRVS systems are unable to generate vital statistics 

or provide documentary evidence for legal purposes and as a result, there is little support for allocating 

resources to improve the system. 


a. Issue a high-level declaration on the importance of CRVS for all individuals; 

b. Conduct a comprehensive multi-stakeholder assessments of CRVS systems; and 

c. Develop a prioritized multi-sectoral national action plan to improve CRVS 

systems detailing commitments required to implement those plans. 


a. Encourage and support countries in conducting a rapid self-assessment; 

b. Support countries in carrying out a comprehensive multi-stakeholder assessment of CRVS 

systems; 

c. Support countries in formulating results-oriented multi-sectoral national action plans to 

accelerate the improvement of CRVS systems; 

d. Convene a ministerial-level regional forum of decision-makers to raise the awareness and 

understanding of the importance of CRVS; and 

e. Through the regional platform, establish a regional web-based repository of assessments of 

CRVS systems and multi-sectoral national action plans to direct development partners in 

developing and implementing capacity development programmes that support national 

priorities, and to facilitate technical cooperation among countries in the region. 

OUTCOME C: INVESTMENTS 

Sufficient and sustainable investments towards incremental improvements in civil 

registration and vital statistics systems 

44. The benefits of well-functioning CRVS systems, including improvements in public administration and 

the efficiency of resource allocation, and enabling individuals to realize their human, legal and economic rights, 

far outweigh the costs. With mounting research and development interest in the area of CRVS at regional and 

global levels, there is a growing movement that is creating evidence to support the case of governments 

investing in improving CRVS systems. 28 Nevertheless, many CRVS systems in Asia and the Pacific suffer from 

28 ABS, 2010, Advocating for civil registration: guide to developing a business case for civil registration, University of Queensland: Health 

Information Systems Knowledge Hub Working Paper Series, No. 15, available at 

. 

32

underinvestment, sometimes as a result of resource allocation to alternative data-collection methods that 

have a number of limitations compared to well-functioning CRVS systems. 


a. Analyze the business processes within CRVS systems with a view to identifying options for 

enhanced cost-effectiveness as well as resource gaps; and 

b. Allocate adequate national financial resources for the implementation of CRVS multi-sectoral 

national action plans. 


a. Produce evidence that proves the value of investing in CRVS systems to support advocacy for 

improving CRVS systems at national-level, particularly in terms of the costs versus the benefits; 


b. Develop a CRVS business process analysis tool and assist countries in applying it to identify 

resource gaps and efficiency improvement opportunities 

c. Develop a business case tool for investing in the improvement of CRVS systems and assist 

countries in applying it for national resource mobilization. 

OUTCOME D: POLICIES, LEGISLATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 

REGULATIONS 

Improved and strengthened policies, legislation and implementation of regulations 

for civil registration and vital statistics systems 

47. A sound and supportive legal framework provides the basis for well-functioning CRVS systems. The 

legal framework for registration of vital events makes registration compulsory, and defines the functions, 

duties and responsibilities of local registrars and of those who are obliged to register, thus helping to ensure 

the completeness of registration and to improve the accuracy of information held in civil records. In terms of 

vital statistics, legislation ensures that stakeholders in CRVS systems have clearly defined roles and 

responsibilities, which assists in ensuring the compliance, quality, timeliness and completeness of the vital 

statistics produced. 


a. Assess compliance with international legal recommendations and standards 

through multi-stakeholder reviews of CRVS legislation; 

b. Include reform of legislation and regulations in multi-sectoral national action 

plans; 

c. Implement legislative and regulatory reform, in line with international legal 

frameworks and standards; and 

d. Ensure linkages with related national strategies such as National Strategies for 

the Development of Statistics (NSDS), development strategies and sectoral 

plans. 


a. Provide technical advisory services to support country efforts in strengthening legislation; 

b. Ensure that the international legal frameworks relating to civil registration are reflected in 

national legislation; 

33

c. Promote the provision of sufficient registration infrastructure and support the development of 

skills and capacities for the registration of events and compilation of vital statistics; 

d. Through the regional platform, facilitate the exchange of good practices in civil registration 

laws; and 

e. Support stronger links between CRVS legislation and policies and related national strategies, 

such as NSDS. 

OUTCOME E: LEGAL DOCUMENTATION 

Improved availability and quality of legal documentation for all individuals 

50. An essential function of civil registration is to provide documentary evidence on which to base claims 

of identity, legal status and ensuing rights. Without this documentation, individuals are likely to face difficulties 

in realizing their human, legal and economic rights, as have been established by numerous international 

conventions, or to access public services such as health and education. With documentary evidence of identity 

and status, individuals are brought into the modern economy because they are able to, for example, transfer 

property, apply for passports, possess driving licenses, open bank accounts and vote. 


a. Improve the capacity of the civil registration system to issue legal 

documentation on appropriately evidenced vital events; 

b. Harness the capacity of hospitals, health centers, religious institutions and 

schools that can play significant roles in registering vital events; 

c. Enhance the capacity of CRVS systems to issue legal documentation of a high 

quality, including the information required to establish an individual’s 

nationality; and 

d. Increase national capacity to assure the safe and secure long-term management 

and archiving of legal records. 


a. Through the regional platform, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices that 

ensure accuracy and completeness in the reporting of vital events and in the compilation, 

management and archiving of registration records; 

b. Through the regional platform, facilitate the exchange of good practices in improving 

registration in remote areas and among poorly covered sub-populations, as well as the 

registration of specific types of vital events, including through the use of information and 

communications technology (for example, community birth and death reporting using mobile 

phones); and 

c. Strengthen the capacity of the national civil registration to provide high quality legal 

documentation to all persons, including the information required to establish nationality. 

OUTCOME F: STATISTICS ON VITAL EVENTS 

Increased technical capacity of countries in Asia and the Pacific to record, compile, 

analyze and disseminate complete and reliable statistics on vital events 

53. It is becoming increasingly feasible to overcome the technical and logistical challenges that countries 

face to record, compile, analyze and disseminate complete and reliable information on vital events. The use of 

ICT, including mobile technology can facilitate the registration of vital events in remote, isolated, small 

34

island and mountainous areas. In addition, advances in technology enable more secure storage and protection 

of civil registration archives from natural catastrophes, war and cyber-attacks. Institutional and human 

resource capacities can be enhanced by drawing upon hospitals, health centers, religious institutions and 

schools that can play significant roles in registering vital events. The health sector, in particular, can play an 

important role in the notification of births and deaths to the registration authorities, and in encouraging 

families to register births and deaths. 


a. Expand infrastructure availability, quality and equitable distribution, especially in poorly 

serviced areas and population groups; 

b. Enhance CRVS human resources availability and distribution; 

c. Provide training and skills enhancement covering key aspects of CRVS, covering all aspects of 

vital events (including causes of death) recording, data reporting, compilation, archiving and 

analysis; 

d. Improve the completeness of birth registration in line with a nationally determined target; 

e. Improve the completeness of death registration in line with a nationally determined target; 

f. Improve the quality of cause-of-death certification and coding, in line with international 

standards as defined by WHO; and 

g. Develop and test, in collaboration with academic and research institutions, innovative and 

efficient methods and tools for accelerating the improvement of CRVS systems. 


a. Through the regional platform, promote the sharing of technical knowledge, expertise and 

resources to overcome the technical and logistical challenges facing countries to record, 

compile, analyze and disseminate complete and reliable information on vital events; 

b. Develop training curricula and assist national training institutions in strengthening their 

capacity to deliver training on the skills and knowledge needed to improve technical capacities 

of countries to record, compile, analyze and disseminate complete and reliable information on 

vital events; 

c. Support the strengthening of capacity of national training institutions to deliver effective 

training on ICD-compliant medical certification and coding to improve the quality of cause-ofdeath 

data; and 

d. Working with regional academic and research groups, support a research and development 

programme on the basis of identified gaps in country assessments and facilitate the sharing of 

research and study results and formulate guidelines on their potential application. 

OUTCOME G: COORDINATION AMONG KEY STAKEHOLDERS 

Mechanisms established for effective coordination among key stakeholders within 

civil registration and vital statistics systems 

56. Coordination is the hallmark of well-functioning CRVS systems. Coordination is needed among the 

various responsible agencies in countries, between development partners, and between countries and partner 

agencies. At national-level, effective coordination among different agencies involved in reporting, registering 

and recording the occurrence of vital events is essential. Good management at each functional level within 

each part of the system is not enough; good coordination is crucial across sectors in order to minimize 

duplication of functions across different areas of government and facilitate the effective use of registration 

35

ecords for statistical purposes. 


a. Establish a representative and functioning multi-sectoral committee responsible 

for CRVS coordination; 

b. Hold regular and productive meetings of the national CRVS coordination 

committee; 

c. Assign to the national CRVS coordination committee, oversight of the 

implementation of the multi-sectoral national action plan; and 

d. Issue regular updates on improvement progress. 


a. Promote the establishment of a national coordination structure or mechanism comprised of 

key institutions and stakeholders of the civil registration and vital statistics system; 

b. Provide technical advisory services to support country efforts in strengthening coordination; 

c. Through the regional platform, identify, review and compile good practices in the coordination 

of civil registration and vital statistics functions, and facilitate the exchange of good practices in 

coordination mechanisms, documentation and online/offline dissemination; 

d. Through meetings of the Regional Steering and Coordination Group and interim support from 

the Regional Support Office, coordinate and cooperate on on-going and planned activities 

among relevant development partners involved in the Regional Strategic Plan; and 

e. Through periodic reports from the Regional Support Office, ensure that countries are informed 

of and actively contribute to the coordination of capacity-building activities. 

OUTCOME H: USE OF VITAL STATISTICS 

Increased technical capacity of countries in the region to effectively use vital 

statistics 

59. High quality, standards-based registration of vital events enables the production of reliable and 

complete vital statistics, which support national and local decision-making across a range of social and 

economic sectors to facilitate evidence-based policy. 29 The contribution of vital statistics to evidence-based 

decision-making is dependent upon is timely dissemination and appropriate uptake by the relevant decisionmakers. 


a. Include vital statistics derived from civil registration systems in national 

statistical, health and development plans for planning and monitoring purposes; 

b. Make available in the public domain, within one year of the end of the reporting 

year, the reports of numbers and distribution of total births and deaths by age 

and sex; 

29 The United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Vital Statistics states that the compilation of vital statistics should have as its 

ultimate minimum goal: (a) the provision of total monthly or quarterly summary counts of live births, deaths, foetal deaths, 

marriages and divorces on a time schedule prompt enough to provide information for decision-making in health and 

population programmes; and (b) the production of detailed annual tabulations of each type of vital event cross-classified by its 

demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Source: UNSD, 2001, Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System , Revision 2 , para. 62, U N 

publication, Sales No. 01.XVI.10, available at . 

36

c. Make available in the public domain, within two years of the end of the 

reporting year, reports of the major causes of death by age and sex at national 

and sub-national levels; and 

d. Report up-to-date vital statistics to UN agencies, including UNSD and WHO. 


a. Provide training on guidelines and recommendations for the analysis, dissemination and use of 

vital statistics, as contained in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for a Vital 

Statistics System, Revision 2; 

b. Through the regional platform, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices that 

ensure timeliness in the collection and compilation of civil registration records for statistical 

purposes; 

c. Through the regional platform, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices on 

how vital statistics have been used to guide policy and programmes, including through 

documentation and offline/online dissemination; 

d. Provide technical advisory services to countries to support the implementation of principles 

and recommendations, including the development of an engagement strategy to regularly 

discuss data needs with the main data users, the preparation of analytical reports and the 

development of dissemination strategies and policy; and 

e. Develop training curricula and assist national training institutions in strengthening their 

capacity to deliver training on the skills and knowledge needed to improve the analysis of vital 

statistics data. 

IMPLEM ENTA TION STEPS 

62. Based on the experiences of countries that have successfully embarked on CRVS systems 

improvement efforts, major actions required by countries in implementing the Regional Strategic Plan 

comprise key steps, most of which may take place in parallel or be iterative in nature (Figure 1). Relevant 

regional activities will support countries during each step of the process. 

Figure 1 – Implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan, 2012-2020 

37

63. Although circumstances in countries vary, there is a general logical process of three steps that 

countries should take to improve their CRVS systems: 

a. Conducting a standards-based assessment of current status, capacities and 

resources; 

b. Formulating a multi-sectoral national action plan that addresses the range of 

challenges and define feasible, measurable results within the framework of the 

outcomes of the Regional Strategic Plan; and 

c. Implementing the multi-sectoral national action plan. 

64. Three processes will significantly contribute to the successful completion of each of those steps, and 

these are fundamental to any effort to improve CRVS systems: 

a. Establishing a national coordination mechanism to oversee and monitor 

improvement efforts, including monitoring and evaluating the multi-sectoral 

national action plan once developed; 

b. Generating high-level political commitment for improving CRVS systems; and 

c. Mobilizing the resources needed, including human, technical and financial 

resources. 

GOVERNANCE AND CO ORDINATION 

65. The Regional Strategic Plan aims to achieve its goal and outcomes through the sharing of expertise 

from across the region and globally. It establishes a regional platform for leveraging support and resources in 

a coordinated and effective manner. Therefore, a key purpose of the governing and coordination structure 

outlined below is to guide, stimulate and foster partnerships, networking and collaboration among the 

multitude of national, regional and global organizations with a stake in the improvement of CRVS systems in 

the region. See Annex 3 for an overview of the mandates and support available from partners involved and 

committed to implementing the Regional Strategic Plan. 

REGIONAL STEERING AND COORDINATION GROUP (RSCG) 

66. A Regional Steering and Coordination Group will be established to provide strategic guidance and 

oversight to the implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan. The RSCG will function within the framework 

defined by the Regional Strategic Plan, consistent with mandates of involved governments and other national 

and international development partners. 

67. The RSCG will bring together country implementing agencies, civil society, development partners and 

training and research institutions. The BAG will be represented on the RSCG to facilitate coordination with 

related activities in Pacific Island States that are being carried out under the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan. 

68. The RSCG will ensure coordination and integration of the implementation of the Regional Strategic 

Plan with other related capacity development activities for synergy, complementarities and greater impact at 

the regional level. It will review progress in the implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan and ensure that 

actions to implement the Regional Strategic Plan uphold the seven guiding principles agreed to by the country, 

38

egional and international partners in this initiative. 

69. Subject to the mechanisms of its formal establishment, the RSCG may report to the ESCAP 

Commission or if so delegated, to the ESCAP Committee on Statistics. 

REGIONAL SUPPORT OFFICE (RSO) 

70. A Regional Support Office, reporting to and acting as the secretariat for the Regional Steering and 

Coordination Group, will coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan in close 

consultation and partnership with countries and development partners. 

71. The primary role of the RSO is to coordinate and facilitate country assessments and the 

implementation of multi-sectoral national action plans. In carrying out this function, the RSO will serve as the 

‘one-stop’ access point for countries and development partners for Regional Strategic Plan implementation. 

The RSO will actively liaise with international, regional, and sub-regional offices of development partners 

operating in Asia and the Pacific in order to coordinate their support to countries, thereby avoiding duplication 

of efforts and ensuring that international standards are being followed. 

72. The RSO will function as the regional platform aimed at promoting the exchange of expertise, 

experiences, resources and other information on improving CRVS systems. It will report on accomplishments, 

compile lessons learned and foster South-South and peer-to-peer cooperation to improve civil registration and 

vital statistics systems. 

73. The regional platform will comprise a web repository and other interactive features such as a webbased 

forum, to be complemented by the organization of knowledge exchange seminars and facilitation of 

exchange visits to promote and demonstrate the use of the platform. The web repository will include a 

directory of CRVS stakeholders, such as development partners and experts, and a resource base, comprising 

training and advocacy materials, computer-based resource kits, and assessment and analysis tools. The 

repository will further include completed assessments of CRVS systems and multi-sectoral national action 

plans. 

74. The Regional Support Office will be hosted by one of the regional development partners committed to 

the Regional Strategic Plan. 

NATIONAL COORDINATION 

75. Broad-based and high-level political support is necessary for successful implementation of multisectoral 

national action plans, not least for resource allocation and legislative reviews. The establishment of a 

national multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism to coordinate the assessment and the development and 

implementation of a multi-sectoral national action plan is therefore of critical importance for ensuring longterm 

results of the Regional Strategic Plan. The mechanism should be able to directly involve or reach out to all 

relevant stakeholders within the country’s CRVS systems. 

76. Core agencies at the national-level comprise those with responsibilities for registration (such as civil 

registration offices, local governments, ministries of justice or the interior etc.), those responsible for the 

production and dissemination of statistics (usually the NSO), and the health sector, which has a particularly 

important role to play in the notification of vital events. Additional important stakeholders and potential 

partners include other sectoral agencies (ministries of education, labor, security, public information or foreign 

affairs etc.), the business and private sectors, donors and development partners, civil society and NGOs, and 

39

epresentatives of communities. 

77. Pathways and timescales for the multi-sectoral national action plans will vary greatly across countries 

according to the current status of their CRVS systems, their institutional and administrative features and state 

of development. The exact mechanism for coordination will therefore be decided by each country. If possible, 

existing coordination mechanisms will be made use of and revised as necessary, rather than establishing new 

ones. 

78. The country coordinating mechanisms will be the entry point for the Regional Support Office to liaise 

and communicate with countries. 

MONITORI NG 

ANNUAL PROGRESS ASSESSMENT REPORTS 

79. The Regional Support Office will monitor the implementation of activities for improving CRVS systems, 

whether they are conducted by national, regional or international partners. On this basis, annual progress 

assessment reports presenting an overview of efforts by all stakeholders will be prepared for review by the 

Regional Steering and Coordination Group. The annual progress assessment reports will be produced on the 

basis of information that has been provided to the Regional Support Office by partners. 

PERIODIC MONITORING REPORTS 

80. While the framework and approach of the Regional Strategic Plan is regional, improvement of CRVS 

systems will ultimately happen at the national-level and will be primarily driven by countries. Hence, progress 

towards achieving the outcomes of the Regional Strategic Plan will be evidenced in the national context. It is 

therefore proposed that the annual activity-level progress assessment reports be complemented periodically, 

in 2016 and 2020, by a more comprehensive monitoring report. 

81. The Regional Support Office will produce the monitoring report through questionnaires circulated to 

all countries and development partners operating in the region. As with the annual progress assessment 

reports, the monitoring reports will be prepared for review by the Regional Steering and Coordination Group. 

82. A proposed monitoring framework for the assessment reports is presented in Annex 1. 

40

ANNE X 1: PROPOSED MONITORI NG FRAMEWORK 

Overall goal 

Through improved civil registration and the increased availability and use of reliable vital statistics derived from civil registration systems to contribute to the 

improvement of evidence based policy making, efficiency in resource allocation and good governance, as well as the progressive realization of the basic rights of all 

individuals. 

Outcome 

Outcome A 

Enhanced public awareness of the value 

of civil registration and vital statistics 

systems and actions taken to remove 

barriers to registration at all levels 

Outcome B 

Sustained political commitment to support 

the development and improvement of civil 


Outcome C 

Sufficient and sustainable investments 

towards incremental improvements in civil 


Proposed monitoring indicators 

Number and proportion of countries within the region that have: 

a. Developed national advocacy strategies for CRVS targeting diverse audiences and stakeholders and focusing in particular on 

communities, marginalized groups and remote populations; 

b. Developed national communications strategies and outreach to underserved groups; 

c. Developed multi-sectoral national action plans that include strategies to identify and remove barriers to registration, in 

particular those that impede access by persons from marginalized groups; and 

d. Included civil society and NGO representation on national CRVS coordination committees. 


a. Issued a high-level declaration on the importance of CRVS for all individuals; 

b. Conducted a comprehensive multi-stakeholder assessments of CRVS systems; and 

c. Developed a prioritized multi-sectoral national action plan to improve CRVS systems detailing commitments required to 

implement those plans. 

Number and proportion of countries within the region that have 

a. Analyzed the business processes within CRVS systems with a view to identifying options for enhanced cost-effectiveness as 

well as resource gaps; and 

b. Allocated adequate national financial resources for the implementation of CRVS multi-sectoral national action plans. 

41

Outcome D 

Improved and strengthened policies, 

legislation and implementation of 

regulations for civil registration and vital 

statistics systems 

Outcome E 

Improved availability and quality of legal 

documentation for all individuals 

Outcome F 

Increased technical capacities of countries 

in Asia and the Pacific to record, compile, 

analyze and disseminate complete and 

reliable statistics on vital events 

Outcome G 

Mechanisms established for effective 

coordination among key stakeholders 

within civil registration and vital statistics 

systems 


a. Assessed compliance with international legal recommendations and standards through multi-stakeholder reviews of CRVS 

legislation; 

b. Included reform of legislation and regulations in multi-sectoral national action plans; 

c. Implemented legislative and regulatory reform, in line with international legal frameworks and standards; and 

d. Ensured linkages with related national strategies such as National Strategies for the Development of Statistics (NSDS), 

development strategies and sectoral plans. 


a. Improved the capacity of the civil registration system to issue legal documentation on appropriately evidenced vital events; 

b. Harnessed the capacity of hospitals, health centers, religious institutions and schools that can play significant roles in 

registering vital events; 

c. Enhanced the capacity of CRVS systems to issue legal documentation of a high quality, including the information required 

to establish an individual’s nationality; and 

d. Increased national capacity to assure the safe and secure long-term management and archiving of legal records. 


a. Expanded infrastructure availability, quality and equitable distribution, especially in poorly serviced areas and population 

groups; 

b. Enhanced CRVS human resources availability and distribution; 

c. Provided training and skills enhancement covering key aspects of CRVS, covering all aspects of vital events (including 

causes of death) recording, data reporting, compilation, archiving and analysis; 

d. Improved the completeness of birth registration in line with a nationally determined target; 

e. Improved the completeness of death registration in line with a nationally determined target; 

f. Improved the quality of cause-of-death certification and coding, in line with international standards as defined by WHO; 


g. Developed and tested, in collaboration with academic and research institutions, innovative and efficient methods and tools 

for accelerating the improvement of CRVS systems. 


a. Established a representative and functioning multi-sectoral committee responsible for CRVS coordination; 

b. Held regular and productive meetings of the national CRVS coordination committee; 

c. Assigned to the national CRVS coordination committee, oversight of the implementation of the multi-sectoral national 

action plan; and 

d. Issued regular updates on improvement progress. 

42

Outcome H 

Increased technical capacity of countries 

in the region to effectively use vital 

statistics 


a. Included vital statistics derived from civil registration systems in national statistical, health and development plans for 

planning and monitoring purposes; 

b. Made available in the public domain, within one year of the end of the reporting year, the reports of numbers and 

distribution of total births and deaths by age and sex; 

c. Made available in the public domain, within two years of the end of the reporting year, reports of the major causes of death 

by age and sex at national and sub-national levels; and 

d. Reported up-to-date vital statistics to UN agencies, including UNSD and WHO. 

43

ANNE X 2: RAPID SELF-ASSESSME NTS OF CRVS SYSTEMS I N ASI A AND TH E PACI FIC 

1. As of September 2012, 35 countries in the Asia-Pacific region have assessed their CRVS systems, using 

the rapid self-assessment tool developed by HISHub and WHO. 30 

2. The rapid self-assessment tool consists of 25 questions, grouped into 11 areas, about the functioning 

of the civil registration and vital statistics systems of a country. For each question, one of four possible 

scenarios can be selected; each scenario being assigned with a numerical value from zero to three (0-3) 

indicating how well the systems functions in this aspect. Summing up the values from the 11 areas provides an 

overall score for the functioning of the civil registration and vital statistics systems in a country. 

Overall results 

3. The overall scores from the 35 Asia-Pacific countries that have undertaken the rapid self-assessment 

have in Figure 1 been transformed into percentage scores and on this basis classified as dysfunctional (

6-9 Quality of Cause of Death Data; ICD Compliance, Practices and 1.86 

ICD Compliance 1.72 

Practices Affecting the Quality of Cause of Death Data 1.95 

ICD Coding Practices 2.36 

Coder Qualification and Training 1.40 

10 Data Quality and Plausibility Checks 1.71 

11 Data Access, Dissemination and Use 2.44 

Legal framework 

7. The findings of the rapid self-assessments demonstrate that most countries, which completed the 

assessment, have in place adequate and enforced legislation on civil registration, stating that registration of 

births and deaths is compulsory. Only 11 per cent of countries mentioned that their legislation requires 

amendment, whilst 17 per cent of countries reported that the legislation exists but it is not enforced. 

However, 1 country mentioned that there is no law that makes it obligatory to register births and deaths. 

8. 20 countries reported that medical establishments are obliged to report all vital events within a given 

time period. However, in 11 per cent of countries, regulations exist, but not all medical establishments report 

the events. Only 3 countries reported that regulations cover public medical establishments exclusively; whilst 

in 23 per cent of countries there is no regulation at all. 

Registration infrastructure 

9. 80 per cent of countries consider that there are sufficient places where citizens can register births and 

deaths, and only 5 countries reported that urban areas are better covered than rural areas. However, 16 

countries consider that necessary supplies and equipment are widely available, while 40 per cent of countries 

reported that supplies are generally available everywhere, but there are widespread shortages of equipment. 

10. All registrars have received adequate training in 43 per cent of the countries. 46 per cent of countries 

consider that the training is insufficient, and skills and knowledge are largely acquired on the job. However, 4 

countries provide no training, with negative effects upon the functioning of civil registration. 

Organization and function of vital statistics systems 

11. In terms of collaboration, the countries in the region still face many challenges. In 34 per cent of 

countries, there is little interagency collaboration, with the various agencies functioning independently, 

resulting in problems such as duplication of work and inconsistencies in the estimates derived from vital 

statistics issued. However, 40 per cent of countries mentioned that although there is no formal interagency 

committee, the agencies involved have regular meetings to identify and resolve problems. 

Completeness of birth and death registration 

12. In 63 per cent of the countries, a recent evaluation (in the last 10 years) showed that completeness of 

birth registration was 90 per cent or higher. The remaining 13 countries reported that completeness of the 

birth registration is less than 90 per cent. Very similar results were obtained when the completeness of death 

registration was assessed. Only 54 per cent of countries reported that a recent evaluation (in the last 10 years) 

showed that completeness of death registration was 90 per cent or higher. The remaining 16 countries 

reported that the completeness of death registration was lower than 90 per cent. 

Data storage and transmission 

13. The transmission of birth and death records from local and regional offices to a central storage in the 

capital city varies significantly in the region. 26 per cent of countries have the capacity to transmit all 

information electronically from local to regional offices, and then to a central office. However, 14 countries still 

use paper copies, which are sent from local offices to the regional office and processed there for electronic 

transmission to the central office. The remaining 12 countries only process the records at the central office or 

rely completely on paper copies throughout the system to transfer birth and death records to a central storage 

facility. 

45

14. In 43 per cent of countries, there is an agreed schedule for reporting to the central office, with 

reporting deadlines taken seriously and closely monitored – it is rarely necessary to send out reminders. In the 

remaining 20 countries, the schedule is not strictly adhered to and there is little effort by the central office to 

encourage more timely and regular reporting. 

Practices affecting the quality of cause of death data; ICD compliance, practices and training 

15. 60 per cent of countries state that the cause of death must be indicated on the death certificate 

according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), and can only be certified by a medical doctor. 

Whilst, 10 countries, state that cause of death must be indicated, but only under broad categories, and may be 

certified by non-medical officials. 

16. Only in 23 per cent of countries, are all medical students are introduced to the ICD during their 

studies, and are taught how to certify cause of death and correctly complete the medical death certificate. 

Data quality and plausibility checks 

17. In 46 per cent of countries, checks on overall levels of fertility and mortality derived from the vital 

statistics data are made routinely by calculating rates and comparing these over time; rates are also compared 

to data derived from other sources, such as censuses and surveys. However, in 9 countries, no specific checks 

are routinely carried out for data quality and plausibility of birth and death statistics. 

18. In addition to checking the stability of patterns in cause of death over time, the proportion of illdefined 

and unknown deaths is routinely monitored, and the age and sex patterns for major causes of death 

are checked for plausibility in 34 per cent of countries. However, 10 countries do not carry out consistency 

and plausibility checks routinely on data for cause of death. 

Data access, dissemination and use 

19. 69 per cent of the 35 countries publish annual data on births and 71 per cent publish annual data on 

deaths by all three disaggregations (sex, age and geographical or administrative region). 5 countries are not 

able to publish annual statistics on birth, and 7 countries do not publish annual statistics on death. 

20. The delay between the reference year and the time when detailed national statistics on cause of 

death, classified by sex and age, are made available to the public is less than two years for 71 per cent of 

countries. In 2 countries, it was reported that the delay is five years or more. 

21. Data on births, deaths, and causes of death are utilized in 66 per cent of countries for socioeconomic 

planning and for monitoring the health status of the population, including the use of data on cause of death 

for public health purposes. In 2 countries, data from the civil registration and vital statistics systems are not 

routinely used for policy and programme purposes. 

46

ANNEX 3: DEVELOPM ENT PARTNERS [AWAITI NG CO NFIRMATIO N FROM PARTNERS] 

Partner 

Australian Bureau of 

Statistics (ABS) 

Asian Development 

Bank (ADB) 

Mandate and/or contribution for the Regional Strategic Plan 

Through its membership on the UNESCAP Committee of Statistics, the 

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is committed to advocating for and 

supporting where possible the strengthening of statistical information and 

sharing of the same within the Asia Pacific Region. One plan of this work 

focuses on improving civil registration systems and vital statistics. A key goal of 

this work from the ABS perspective is to assist National Statistical Offices in 

target countries to build their capacity to provide support and leadership in 

terms of vital statistics and to strengthen their role in CVRS. ABS has critical 

skills in Data collection, collation, management and analysis skills relating to 

economic, environmental and social statistical information including CRVS. 

ABS's contribution to the Regional Strategic Plan can be seen through: 

- joint support (with UQ HIS-hub) of an ABS outposted officer to provide 

technical assistance to target countries for another two years 

- participation in the Statistical Capability Working Group proposed at the 7-8 

May meeting of partners 

- engaging (advocating) with NSOs in the target countries to strengthen their 

commitment to and involvement in improving CVRS 

- undertaking capacity building activities to more broadly strengthen NSOs in 

the region 

- partnering with UQ HIS-Hub 

- participation in the high level meeting at the end of Dec 2012 if considered 

useful. 

ADB is a development finance institution with the vision of “An Asia and 

Pacific Region Free of Poverty” and mission to help its developing member 

countries (DMCs) reduce poverty and improve living conditions and quality of 

life by focusing on three complementary strategic agendas: inclusive growth, 

environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. 

ADB is also engaged in monitoring the progress on MDGs in the Asia Pacific 

region in partnership with the UNDP and UNESCAP. With regard to regional 

initiative on improving CRVS Systems in the Asia Pacific region, ADB has been 

partnering with ESCAP and other development partners and has supported 

various activities such as regional forum and training workshop and assessments 

of the CRVS systems in selected countries under the ESCAP/UNDP/ADB 

regional MDG program. As member of the drafting group it is contributing to 

the development of the Regional Plan and organizing committee for the High 

Level Meeting in December 2012. ADB aims to provide limited support through 

technical assistance to selected DMCs to undertake comprehensive assessments 

and preparing national action plans for improving the CRVS systems and 

strengthening capacity to implement some recommendations to improve these 

systems. 

47

Health Metrics 

Network (HMN) 

International 

Organization for 

Migration (IOM) 

Asia and Pacific 

Regional Office 

Office of the High 

Commissioner for 

Human Rights 

(OHCHR) 

Partnership in 

Statistics for 

Development in the 

21st Century 

(PARIS21) 

A committed partner to the Asia Pacific regional plan, HMN is a global 

partnership focused on strengthening country health information systems. 

HMN is actively pursuing a regional agenda to strengthen country health 

information systems. 

HMN is the global focal point for the UN Commission on Information and 

Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health for Civil Registration and 

Vital Statistics (CRVS) and has a current priority focus on CRVS. With its 

technical and financial resources, HMN works with regional partners to support 

country CRVS strengthening, including (i) tools, (ii) capacity building, (iii) 

innovation and (iv) resource mobilization. HMN is currently supporting 

innovative initiatives in CRVS in Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines 

and Cambodia. 

IOM works on capacity building for migration management to facilitate global 

mobility with security. In relation to the support on Regional Strategic Plan, 

IOM can apply technical expertise (Identity solutions, Data management, 

Infrastructure/ IT capacity, Personal Identification and Registration System, 

Developing Security Documents) in order to help improve civil registration and 

vital statistics as part of implementation solutions 

The OHCHR is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full 

realization, by all people, of all rights established in the Charter of the United 

Nations and in international human rights laws and treaties. The mandate 

includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human 

rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, 

coordinating related activities throughout the United Nations, and strengthening 

and streamlining the United Nations system in the field of human rights. In 

addition to its mandated responsibilities, the Office leads efforts to integrate a 

human rights approach within all work carried out by United Nations agencies. 

OHCHR aims to contribute to the Regional Strategic Plan through the provision 

of technical expertise. 

PARIS21 is a global partnership that seeks to improve the statistical capacities in 

developing countries to produce and use better statistics. PARIS21 focuses its 

work on promoting and assisting countries to prepare National Strategies for the 

Development of Statistics (NSDS), a system-wide strategic planning process. 

PARIS21 does not work on CRVS per se but on the overall management of 

national statistical systems (e.g., strategic planning, co-ordination). PARIS21 

emphasizes the need to incorporate all statistical operations into NSDS. As such, 

PARIS21 will advocate the mainstreaming of programmes targeting the 

improvement of CRVS into NSDS in order to (i) ensure national ownership and 

(ii) increase the probability of mobilizing resources and ensuring sustainability. 

48

Plan International 

Regional 

Coordination 

Mechanism 

Thematic Working 

Group on Gender 

Equality and 

Empowerment of 

Women 

Royal Thai 

Government 

(Ministry of Interior, 

Ministry of Public 

Health and National 

Statistical Office) 

Secretariat of the 

Pacific Community 

(SPC) 

United Nations 

Development 

Programme 

(UNDP) Asia- 

Pacific Regional 

Centre 

Plan aims to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of deprived 

children in developing countries, through a process that unites people across 

cultures and adds meaning and value to their lives, by: 

- enabling deprived children, their families and their communities to meet their 

basic needs and to increase their ability to participate in and benefit from their 

societies 

- building relationships to increase understanding and unity among peoples of 

different cultures and countries 

- promoting the rights and interests of the world's children 

Plan is interested in supporting the Regional Strategic Plan and it has over a 

decade of experience of undertaking birth registration in the region. It also has 

documentation of what works and training material for civil for birth 

registration. 

The Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of 

Women (TWG-GEEW) was established as part of the Asia-Pacific United 

Nations Regional Coordination Mechanism (UNRCM) on 19 February 2008. 

The work of the TWG-GEEW complements that of the other five Thematic 

Working Groups established in 2005 as part of a reformed regional TWG 

structure. The goal of TWG-GEEW is to ensure a coordinated UN system 

approach to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Asia- 

Pacific Region. UN Women and ESCAP co-chair and act as the joint secretariat 

of TWG-GEEW. It currently has 27 members and meets at least quarterly. 

The indicative Annual Work Plan 2011-2012 was endorsed by the TWG-GEEW 

at its 17th Meeting on 2 September 2011. It addresses four areas of work; 1) 

advocacy/campaigning, 2) gender mainstreaming, 3) outreach to stakeholders, 

and 4) policy makers and capacity development. The priority themes include 

Gender and HIV/AIDS, EVAW and Gender Statistics. UN Women co chairs 

the Working Group on Gender Statistics along with UN ESCAP Statistics 

Division. 

To be written 

Pacific plan's signed off by all Pacific Minister for Health. In relation to the 

support for Regional Strategic Plan, SPC aims at providing technical assistance 

for countries. 

UNDP's Asia Pacific Regional Centre (APRC) provides technical and policy 

advice to its Country Offices. The APRC builds partnerships and promotes 

regional capacity building initiatives, which allow UNDP, governments and 

other development partners to identify, create and share knowledge relevant to 

development challenges. Its broad areas of works cover Democratic 

Governance, Energy and Environment, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Poverty 

Reduction and Human Development with an overarching effort to achieving the 

Millennium Development Goals. 

49


Economic and 

Social Commission 

for Asia and the 

Pacific (ESCAP) 

ESCAP is the regional development arm of the UN and serves as the main economic 

and social development centre for the UN in Asia and the Pacific. Its mandate is to 

foster cooperation between the 53 member and 9 associate member States. It 

supports Governments of the region in consolidating regional positions and 

advocates regional approaches to meeting the region’s unique socio-economic 

challenges in a globalizing world. 

The ESCAP resolution 67/12 on improvement of civil registration and vital statistics in 

Asia and the Pacific positions the ESCAP secretariat to take a central role in 

implementing the Regional Strategic Plan and the broader regional initiative to 

improve CRVS systems. It places ESCAP as the focal point for coordination amongst 

development partners operating in the region, and between development 

organizations and countries, sharing or providing access to technical expertise and 

resources, and for monitoring and reporting on progress. 


Educational, 

Scientific and 

Cultural 

Organization 

(UNESCO) 

Bangkok 

UNESCO works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, 

cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is 

through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable 

development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the 

alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO’S mission and 

activities. The broad goals and concrete objectives of the international 

community – as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, 

including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – underpin all 

UNESCO’s strategies and activities. Thus UNESCO’s unique competencies in 

education, science, culture and communication and information contribute to 

the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and 

intercultural dialogue. 

Within this context, UNESCO actively promotes cultural approaches to 

development interventions, and specifically the use of culturally and linguistically 

appropriate methodologies and information materials. Beside capacity-building 

activities on birth and citizenship registration, UNESCO has piloted a 

programme in Thailand for the development of audio clips and animation 

cartoons on why birth registration is important and how to register a child at 

birth. These materials have been developed in 8 minority languages to reach the 

most vulnerable populations. GIS mapping has also been used to understand the 

cultural, social and economic situation in target areas of interventions. 

50


Population Fund 

(UNFPA) 


High Commissioner 

for Refugees 

(UNHCR) 

UNFPA is an international development agency that promotes the right of every 

woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. In 

addition to carrying out programmes on sexual and reproductive health and 

gender aspects, UNFPA works on major population issues (ageing, migration...) 

and their interrelations with development processes. The availability of 

population statistics is essential in that perspective and UNFPA activities can 

include at country level the strengthening of statistical systems in order to make 

it possible to monitor demographic trends and to integrate population dynamics 

into development planning. As an important component of population statistics, 

vital statistics are therefore of high interest to UNFPA. They also provide 

stakeholders with the best source of information on maternal mortality or 

prenatal sex selection that are important areas of work for UNFPA. 

UNFPA is interested in contributing to the Regional Strategic Plan, particularly 

through supporting activities at regional level, where technical expertise in 

statistics and demography is available. Financial resources for activities at 

country level (assessment...) can also possibly be mobilized from the budget of 

UNFPA Country Programmes, providing these activities are aligned with the 

priority areas of these Programmes. 

UNHCR has a Global Strategic Priority for 2012-13 of securing birth 

registration, profiling and individual documentation based on registration for 

persons of concern which include 1) Refugees and Asylum-seekers, 2) Internally 

Displaced Persons, 3) Stateless persons. UNHCR has been identified as the body 

to which a person claiming the benefit of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction 

of Statelessness may apply for the examination of his or her claim and for 

assistance in presenting it to the appropriate authority. As part of its Mandate to 

prevent statelessness, UNHCR works with UNICEF, UNFPA and other 

partners to ensure that all persons of concern are registered at birth. 

A number of UNHCR’s Country Offices are already working, in particular, on 

birth registration and, in consultation with the Regional Coordinator’s Office, 

Thailand and the Bureau for the Asia-Pacific, may be able to support country 

assessments, plans or implementation. UNHCR has experience of providing 

technical assistance to States in respect of their nationality and birth registration 

laws, as has extensive operational experience in respect of registration of the 

populations of concern. UNHCR, thus, would like to participate in the Drafting 

and Organizing Committees for the High Level Meeting in December, and 

would like the opportunity for Country Offices to be involved in the country 

assessments, planning and implementation. UNHCR may also be able to 

participate in the Advocacy and Communications committee. 

51


Children's Fund 

(UNICEF) 

University of 

Queensland: Health 

Information System 

Knowledge Hub 

(UQ-HISHub) 


Entity for Gender 

Equality and the 

Empowerment of 

Women (UN 

Women) 

Statistics Division, 

Department of 

Economic and 

Social Affairs, 


(UNSD) 

UNICEF has a mandate on all children’s rights – birth registration and child 

rights. Official recognition of age, parentage, citizenship, access to services, 

prevention of statelessness. Registration of adoptions (child trafficking). 

In relation to the support on Regional Strategic Plan, UNIECF aims at the 

establishment of the Asia Pacific Civil Registrars Network, which could 

potentially be revived and linked to the high level meeting. UNICEF also has 

EU funding to work on birth registration in Myanmar and Pacific and 4 

countries in Africa. [This funding?] can support Asia-Pacific Civil Registrars 

Network. UNICEF recommends to do a barriers and blockages analysis for 

birth registration (for example, Bangladesh ‘bottleneck analysis’ could be a paper 

for the high level meeting) 

HISHub works to increase the critical, conceptual and strategic analysis of key 

Health Information System issues relevant to the Asia Pacific region with the 

aim to inform policy thinking and practical application at the national, regional 

and international levels. To carry out this mandate HISHub conducts research in 

most areas of health information system development, develops tools and 

resources that can assist countries improving their systems, teaches short courses 

on Health Information Systems and Civil Registration and Vital Statistics 

(CRVS). HISHub also undertakes Technical assistance to countries in the areas 

of Vital Statistics improvement and conducts CRVS assessments in a holistic 

manner, including causes of death analysis, death certification and ICD training, 

medical records reviews, death distribution and verbal autopsy methods. 

HISHub knowledge resources and publications are widely disseminated and used 

by partner agencies and countries to influence practice and thinking at national, 

regional and international levels. 

HISHub aims at supporting the Regional Strategic Plan as an academic partner 

and as a source of technical advice for strengthening health information and 

CRVS systems. 

UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment 

of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established 

to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. Created by the UN 

General Assembly in July 2010, UN Women became operational on 1st January 

2011, and supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving 

gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, 

policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It 

stands behind women's equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on six 

priority areas: increasing women's leadership and participation; ending violence 

against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; 

enhancing women's economic empowerment; making gender equality central to 

national development planning and budgeting; and increasing coordination and 

accountability across the UN system for gender equality. 

To be written 

52

World Health 

Organization 

(WHO) 

WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United 

Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health 

matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, 

articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to 

countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. With regard to CRVS, 

WHO's mandate is to provide technical assistance wherever possible and play a 

coordinating role to bring all stakeholders together, to take action, and to follow 

up and remain accountable for sustainable progress. The idea is to support a 

careful, realistic and focused strategic planning process that is lead, and agreed 

to, by the country, not just by external technical assistance; recommendations 

made need to build on existing infrastructure and steer countries towards 

meeting international standards in a holistic manner. 

WHO has already been partnering with UNESCAP to undertake comprehensive 

CRVS assessments in the region. WHO convened obtaining proposals from 5 

countries in the region (Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Myanmar, Bangladesh, DPR 

Korea) to conduct the assessment, conducted the assessment in Timor-Leste and 

facilitated the assessment in Indonesia. WHO is also working with Sri Lanka and 

Maldives to obtain proposals to implement the recommendation of the 

comprehensive assessments conducted in order to strengthen the CRVS system. 

Additionally, WHO can take a convening role for countries in the region in 

order to incorporate and align efforts of all UN agencies for the improvement of 

CRVS in SEAR countries. 

53

ATTACHMENT FIVE: Country CRVS assessment update 

WHO 

Region 

Done In progress No 

Country 

HMN HIS 

Assessment 

Completed 

HIS 

Strategic 

Plan 

Completed 

CVRS Rapid 

Assessment 

Completed 

CRVS 

Comprehen 

sive 

Assessment 

Completed 

CRVS 

Assessment 

Requested 

CRVS 

Improvement 

Plan 

Completed 

Accountabi 

lity 

Framework 

Assessment 

completed 

or planned 

for 2012 

HMN 

MoVE- 

IT 

Project 

Country 

Civil registration 

coverage(%) (2000- 

2009) 

Estimate 

s of the 

coverage 

of 

Births(20 

00-2009) 

EMRO Afghanistan 6 

AFRO Angola 29 

EURO Azerbaijan >90 50-74 

SEAR 

O Bangladesh 10 

AFRO Benin 60 

PAHO 

Bolivia 

(Plurinationa 

l State of) TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD 74 

AFRO Botswana 72 

PAHO Brazil TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD 91 75-89 

AFRO Burkina Faso 64 

AFRO Burundi 60 

WPR 

O Cambodia 66 

AFRO Cameroon 70 

Causes 

of 

death 

(2000- 

2009) 

54

AFRO 

Central 

African 

Republic 49 

AFRO Chad 9 

WPR 

O China …

AFRO Lesotho 26 

AFRO Liberia 4 

AFRO Madagascar 75 

AFRO Malawi … 

AFRO Mali 53 

AFRO Mauritania 56 

PAHO Mexico … 90-100 

WPR Mongolia 

O 

EMRO Morocco 85 25-49 

Mozambiqu 

AFRO e 31 

SEAR 

O Myanmar 65 90 90-100 

AFRO Rwanda 82 

Sao Tome 

AFRO and Principe 69 

AFRO Senegal 55 

AFRO Sierra Leone 51 

WPR Solomon 

O Islands 80 

EMRO Somalia 3 

AFRO South Africa 92 90-100 

AFRO South Sudan 

EMRO Sudan 33 

56

AFRO Swaziland 30 

EURO Tajikistan 88 50-74 

Tanzania- 

AFRO Mainland 22 

AFRO Togo 78 

Turkmenista 

EURO n 96 

AFRO Uganda 21 

EURO Uzbekistan 100 75-89 

WPR 

O Viet Nam >90 

EMRO Yemen 22 

AFRO Zambia 14 

AFRO 

Tanzania- 

Zanzibar 

AFRO Zimbabwe 74 25-49 

57

i 

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division (2001): “Principles and recommendations for a vital statistics system: 

Revision 2”. 

ii 

UN Economic Commission for Africa, (2012), Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics policy 

document. 

iii 

World Health Organization (2011) Keeping promises, measuring results: Commission on information and accountability for Women’s and 

Children’s Health. ISBN 978 92 4 156432 8 (NLM classification: WA 310) © World Health Organization 2011.

Africa, Asia and Eastern Mediterranean 2012 and 2013

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