NE A young statistician’s perspective on CRVS after the EGM of African Registrar Generals last November

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A young statistician’s perspective on CRVS after the EGM of African Registrar Generals last November

Published on 25/2/2022

By Constantin Rukataza

Mr. Constantin Rukataza, one of the young statisticians who participated in the Experts Group Meeting of African Registrar Generals has shared his experience with us:

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A group of people posing for a photoDescription automatically generated My name is Constantin Rukataza a young statistician from Rwanda. I hold a bachelor’s degree in applied Statistics, currently pursuing a Master’s program in data science/Biostatistics at the African Centre of Excellence in data Science of the University of Rwanda.

I have a good experience in data management working with various Governmental and non-governmental institutions as data consultant and research Assistant.

It was my great pleasure to attend the Experts Group Meeting of African Registrar Generals as a young statistician on “Building back better a sustainable, resilient recovery of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems after Covid-19”, organized by ECA.

I had the opportunity to follow group and panel discussions, and the session on countries’ experiences sharing.

I have learned that CRVS is important since countries need to know how many people are born, married, divorced, or die along with the cause of their death and divorce. This helps to have well-functioning health systems as well as to ensure that every citizen counts and is counted, and finally promote sustainable development.

A group of people sitting around a table with laptopsDescription automatically generated with medium confidence Special thanks to ECA for organizing this indispensable meeting and engaging young statisticians. It was a great opportunity for networking with experts and to know how CRVS system operates, current gap and challenges.

I have realized that CRVS must be community and Government centred and the community needs to understand Why, How and When of CRVS.

Human resources are needed to fulfil the vision and mission of the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS). Furthermore, the political will of African Governments is needed for coordination, communication and data sharing between ministries and agencies.

Young African Statisticians can support with innovation and technology, data processing and management as well as assist in improving designed data modelling processes.

Congratulations to ECA for engaging young statisticians in CRVS activities. I would request ECA and other pan African institutions to provide more trainings and fellowships opportunities to young Statisticians from the continent.