Highlights of the Progress Report on the Africa Programme for Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics

By Edem KLUDZA

Date: Octobre 2020

The Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems was launched in 2012 at the second session of the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration. Since then, systematic and coordinated implementation of the Africa Programme has helped to build significant momentum towards the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics systems across the continent. The Africa Programme is currently being implemented on the basis of policy and programmatic guidance provided in the resolutions adopted at the five sessions of the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration.

Key results

Since its inception, the Africa Programme has made significant progress in strengthening civil registration and vital statistics systems across the continent. The number of countries that have conducted comprehensive assessments of their civil registration and vital statistics systems has increased from 32 in May 2018 to 42 in September 2020. The Africa Programme has contributed immensely to that process by supporting the dev elopment of resource materials and helping governments to mobilize the financial resources needed to conduct their civil registration and vital statistics assessments and formulate civil registration and vital statistics improvement plans.

The production of vital statistics reports has improved. A survey by ECA in August 2019 showed that 68 per cent of the 40 countries that responded had compiled vital statistics on births and deaths. However, only 38 per cent of those countries produced regular vital statistics reports. The survey also showed that about 50 per cent of countries in Africa had fully or partially computerized registration systems, but only 12 countries had fully digitized systems. Only 28 per cent of African countries were able to capture death records electronically.

Africa CRVS Day Commemorations

At the fourth session of the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration, held in Nouakchott in December 2017, the ministers recommended that 10 August be declared the day of registration of vital statistics and invited African Union member States to observe the day. The day has been commemorated every year since 2018.

The third commemoration of civil registration and vital statistics in Africa was held on 10 August 2020 under the theme, “Civil registration and vital statistics: an essential service for monitoring and mitigating the impact of emergencies”. Emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic disrupt the provision of civil registration services. The current pandemic has shown the vulnerabilities of civil registration systems when such services are needed the most. Evidence is showing that access to civil registration is being hindered by social distancing, restrictions on movement, general apathy among the populace, and the closure of local government service centres. The number of countries that officially marked the day has yet to be determined.

Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration and Vital Statistical Systems

Emergencies like the current COVID-19 pandemic disrupt the provision of civil registration services. African governments have responded by implementing various strategies to flatten the disease curve that range from simple restrictions to contain the virus, to isolation of cities and regions that have been identified as epicenters; while in some countries, total lockdowns have been imposed. These measures have had an impact on activities and programmes in both the public and private sectors. Some of the most affected subsectors include statistical and data management, health, education, food security, industry and public services. Civil registration systems have not been spared and have already begun to experience disruptions at all levels.

About 75 per cent of civil registration offices across the continent were affected, either with services being discontinued as offices were closed, or with reduced services, limited office hours or limited staff on duty. It was also noted that civil registration had been affected by travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders, given that neither registration office staff nor potential clients were able to travel to the offices for the required face-to-face meeting with a civil registrar.

Capacity Building Initiatives

The secretariat of the Africa Programme, in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems (housed at the International Development Research Centre), the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative, and Vital Strategies, developed a framework for the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics systems. To build a well-functioning systems for civil registration and vital statistics, countries will need to take transformative measures to continuously improve existing systems to meet the ever-growing, modern-day challenges to provide their populations with access to legal documents as evidence of identity, civil status and family relations and to produce timely vital statistics. Guidelines have been developed as part of the Africa Programme to help countries to deal with these challenges. After years of conducting comprehensive assessments, the time has come for countries to focus more on an end-to-end, process-centric approach to strengthen their civil registration and vital statistics systems.

United Nations Legal Identity Agenda

The United Nations Legal Identity Agenda, which advocates a global life cycle model of legal identity from birth to death, was introduced in 2019 to address the challenges faced by Member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular target 16.9 (by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration). The key objective of the Agenda is to ensure a comprehensive, harmonized and coordinated approach by all United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the World Bank Group, in providing advice and support to Member States in the development of holistic, interoperable and sustainable civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems. The benchmark goal of the Agenda is to reduce the global identity gap by 300 million by 2025.

At the fifth session of the Conference of the African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration, the ministers encouraged all countries on the continent to ensure the implementation of the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda. The ministers also emphasized that birth registration and birth certificates were a means of protecting children’s rights, their access to social services such as health, education and employment, and their eligibility to vote as soon as they reached the required age. It was also emphasized that a comprehensive approach to legal identity required interoperability among civil registration, vital statistics and national identification systems. These systems E/ECA/STATCO M/7/8 8/9 20-00788 must be linked to a unique identification number assigned at birth and used throughout the life of an individual.