La CEA s'associe au gouvernement fédéral de la Somalie pour le lancement d'un programme d'amélioration des statistiques de l’état civil lors d'un atelier tenu du 29 novembre au 3 décembre 2021 à Nairobi, au Kenya

Publié le 15/12/2021

At a workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya on 29^th November to 30^th December 2021, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in partnership with the Federal government of the Republic of Somalia launched a civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system Improvement programme, aimed to provide systematic support to the government in developing a universal, holistic and well-functioning CRVS system. The federal government was represented by senior government officials from the Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Health and Human Services, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. The workshop was also attended by representatives of UNICEF Somalia, UNHCR Somalia and supported by UNFPA Somalia.

Mr Chinganya opened the meeting by expressing that ECA was delighted to be collaborating with all the government agencies and ministries as representation in this room shows, the UN family, especially UNICEF which co-sponsored the workshop and the other development partners working in Somalia on the CRVS improvement programme. Mr Muhwava indicated that the CRVS mentorship programme being implemented in 12 African countries is designed to support local experts who will receive intensive training from ECA and work through the National Civil Registration Offices to provide sustained technical expertise of implementing CRVS improvement.

This workshop was a culmination of several virtual consultative meetings held between ECA and the above-mentioned government ministries and UN entities in the country. A total of 11 participants attended the workshop with 2 attending online while 9 participated in person. During the discussions, the participants highlighted the progress made by Somalia in establishing a legal framework for CRVS through a newly developed CRVS Policy and a draft bill. Additionally, the government has established a multisectoral coordination mechanism at the federal level of government, with a National CRVS Technical Working Group in place and meeting regularly. A Steering Committee on CRVS (that would provide overall oversight of the programme) has also been instituted through the CRVS policy, but it is yet to be operationalized. Among the biggest challenges highlighted by the participants was the lack of systematic and well-defined CRVS business processes (for birth, death, marriage and divorce registration), the lack of demand for CRVS products(especially registration certificates) and the existing fragmentation of CRVS operations across the country. These are some of the areas that the CRVS improvement programme will aim to address.  

While the roles and responsibilities of all key government institutions are clearly stipulated in the policy, at implementation level, there is need for a better understanding of the strengths of each ministry or agency and maximization their potential in strengthening the system to deliver services to the citizenry.

As the meeting came to an end, there was consensus on the need to enhance coordination, partnership, and collaboration between all stakeholders. This was echoed by a benchmarking visit to the Kenya Department of Civil Registration Services which enlightened the team on importance of collaboration especially in achieving universal registration coverage and production of vital statistics. The government team also appreciated the importance of embracing a systematic approach in the design of CRVS business processes, by especially ensuring that such designs are backed by evidence of a comprehensive context and process analysis as advocated for by the CRVS improvement programme.

ECA will be working closely with government officials in organizing a business process improvement workshop in Somalia as a next step.  The next workshop will target an expanded group of stakeholders from the country.