The Need for a Civil Registration
System
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Presentation parts
•
Three parts
1. Definition and essential features – the United
Nations framework for developing and improving
civil registration
2. Importance of civil registration - human rights and
vital statistics
3. Summary
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Definition of civil registration
•
Civil registration is
– Universal
– Continuous
– Permanent
– Compulsory
recording of vital events
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Definition of civil registration
•
State-run public institution
•
Serving general and individual interests by
• Gathering
• Screening
• Documenting
• Filing
• Safekeeping
• Correcting and updating
• Certifying
Providing official and permanent record
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration Outputs
•
Quite a number of outputs – two main categories
–
Relevant to an individual
•
•
•
–
Original documents
Copies
Extracts
Relevant to a society (aggregated individual outputs)
•
•
•
•
•
Statistics
Health services
Health registers
Family planning
Resource allocations
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil registration – individual output
•
Providing official and permanent record (an example)
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil registration – aggregated output
•
Creating a statistical record
–
–
–
–
–
Validation of data
Electronic format
Data editing
Data processing
Tabulation, analysis, dissemination
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil registration – aggregated output
Age specific fertility rates, early 2000
250
200
Mauritius
150
Namibia
Swaziland
100
Germany
50
0
up to 20
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45+
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration Components
•
•
•
•
•
•
Law
Civil administration infrastructure
Population participation
Service to the public
Ensuring confidentiality
Checks and balances
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
United Nations Civil Registration Network
Principles
and recom
mendations
Rev. 2
Management,
operation and
maintenance
Information,
education and
comm.
Computerization
Legal
framework
Release
and archivingindividual
records
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
•
Exercise of many United Nations endorsed
human rights directly depends on registration
and the existence of the civil registration system
“Every child shall be registered immediately after
birth and shall have a name.”
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Convention on the Rights of the Child
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
•
Codification of international human rights
provides the right to register:
–
–
–
–
Deaths – International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights
Foetal deaths - International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
Marriage - International Convention on Consent to
Marriage and Registration of Marriage
Divorce – United Nations General Assembly
resolutions
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Lack of registration  Denying basic human right
• Examples
1. Right to own identity
The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall
have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire
nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be
cared for by his or her parents. – Article 7 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Lack of registration  Denying basic human right
• Examples
2. Right to non-discrimination by reason of birth
States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the
present Convention to each child within its jurisdiction without
discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or
her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social
origin, property, disability, birth or other status.– Article 2 of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Lack of registration  Denying basic human right
• Examples
3. Right to education
States Parties recognize the right of the child to education and
with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the
basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: a) Make
primary education compulsory and available free for all …; Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Lack of registration  Denying basic human right
• Examples
4. Right to marry
The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry
should be recognized. – Article 23 of the Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Lack of registration  Denying basic human right
• Examples
5. Right to (elect) vote and get elected
Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without
any of the distinctions … to vote and to be elected at genuine
periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal
suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the
free expression of will of the electors – Article 25 of the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
• Civil registers are the best source of vital statistics as
• Universal
• Permanent
• Continuous
• Compulsory
•Vital statistics is essential for planning and providing
the numerical profile of the nation
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
– Incomplete registration
– Civil registration system in development
– Lack of vital statistics
– Lack of population estimates
Source: UN
Population
Division
Total
population:
212,092,000
Population 0-4:
21,782,000
First
graders in
2002:
4,356,400
1.5 teachers
per 30
students
Number of teachers
needed: 217,820
Source:
2000
Population
Census
Total
population:
203,456,000
Population 0-4:
20,910,720
First graders
in 2002:
4,182,144
1.5 teachers
per 30
students
Number of teachers
needed: 209,107
Difference over 8,000
teachers
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enormous challenges
Stakeholders
Importance
Human rights
Statistics
Good governance
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007
Civil Registration and its importance
Good and efficient governing must
be based on informed decisions,
that is why it needs qualitative and
accurate vital statistics.
Governing
Vital
Statistics
Civil registration is, without doubt, the
best source for accurate and reliable
vital statistics.
Efficient and legitimate governing at all levels
requires civil registration for its legal
implications – citizenship, for example.
Ensuring basic human right is crucial for
the normal functioning and governing of
societies worldwide.
Human
Rights
Civil
Registration
The exercise of many human rights
depends directly on the existence of
the functioning civil registration
system.
The lack of vital statistics directly affects the
exercise of human right..
United Nations Workshop on the Improvement of
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the SADC Region
Blantyre, Malawi, 1 - 5 December 2007