Legal, Administrative and Statistical Purposes
and Uses of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics
Systems
United Nations Statistics Division
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Definition of civil registration
Civil registration is
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Universal
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Continuous
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Constant recording not limited by time
Permanent
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Registering all events
For all areas and subdivision
For population temporarily abroad
Existence of a stable administration
Compulsory
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Compliance, enforcement, penalties
Incentives
recording of vital events
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Definition of civil registration
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State-run public institution
Serving general and individual interests by
• Gathering
• Screening
• Documenting
• Filing
• Safekeeping
• Correcting and updating
• Certifying
Providing official and permanent record
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Civil Registration Components
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Law – legal framework
Civil administration infrastructure
Population participation
Service to the public
Ensuring confidentiality
Checks and balances
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Legal functions – individual output
•
Providing official and permanent record (an example)
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Legal functions – protection of human rights
•
Exercise of many United Nations endorsed
human rights directly depends on registration
and the existence of the civil registration system
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Legal functions – protection of human rights
• Lack of registration  Preventing the exercise of a 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 … – Article 7 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Legal functions – protection of human rights
• Lack of registration  Preventing the exercise of a basic
human right
• Examples
2. 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.
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Legal functions – protection of human rights
• Lack of registration  Preventing the exercise of a basic
human right
• Examples
3. 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.
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Statistical functions
• Civil registers are the best source of vital statistics
•Vital statistics is essential for planning and providing
the numerical profile of the nation
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Statistical functions
– 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
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Civil Registration – holistic approach
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Enormous challenges
Stakeholders
Importance
Human rights
Statistics
Good governance
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Civil Registration and its importance
Good and efficient governing can
be based only on factual and
informed decision-making process
- accurate vital statistics are thus
indispensable
Governing
Vital
Statistics
Civil registration is the best source for
accurate and reliable vital statistics
Ensuring basic human right is crucial
responsibility of evry single government
worldwide – especially those that are
Member States of the United Nations
Human
Rights
Civil
Registration
The exercise of many human rights
depends directly on the existence of
the functioning civil registration
system
Efficient and legitimate governing at all levels
requires civil registration for its legal
implications – citizenship, for example
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Uses of birth records
Did the birth
occur?
Birth occurred
in the country?
Vaccination
programme
How old are you?
Post-natal care
Entering school
Vote
Who are
the parents?
Applying for
passport
Applying for
Child grant
Getting married
Joining the army
For individuals
Birth records
Nutritional
Programme
for babies
How many
Maternal units
needed?
Buying a property
Applying for an ID
Epidemiology
Research (eg risk factors for
low birth weight)
For society and research
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Uses of Death records
Apply for
Burial permit
Make insurance
claims
Death
records
Clearing certain registries:
Social security;
electoral list;
bank accounts
To get married for
the surviving
spouse
Follow-up on deaths
from infectious diseases
Quarantine
Supplement cancer
registry
Follow-up on death
Cases: sampling
Birth records
Linking
Claim inheritance
rights
For individuals
Study on infant
Mortality: risk factors
For society and research
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Uses of fertility and mortality statistics
Epidemiologic
studies
School
enrolment
HIV
Prevalence
estimates
Immunisation
coverage
Fertility
statistics
Prioritisation
of health needs
Business
(baby products)
Family
planning
Monitoring
interventions
Mortality
statistics
School
enrolment
Monitoring of
children’s
rights
Infant
mortality rate
Primary
health
care
Business
(burial needs)
Maternal
mortality rate
Population
projections
Safe
motherhood
GDP and
PPI calcs
Epidemiologic
studies
Voter
Population
estimates
Demand
for housing
Labour
force
MDG
Lifetable
survivorship
and life expectancy
Weights
for surveys
Verification
of census
results
Demand
for water
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Users of fertility and mortality statistics
Policy makers
Administrators/
planners
Researchers
International
organizations
Fertility and mortality
Statistics
Civil society,
NGO’s
Development
Agencies/
Marketing
companies
Students
Insurance
companies
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010
Cause of death profile in Cape Town, 2004
Courtesy of Dr. Debbie Bradshaw, South African Research Council
First Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
13 – 14 August 2010