Towards improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the Asia-Pacific region: Establishment of a multi-partner collaborative arrangement
Capacity Development
Supporting effective use of information and communication technology in population census operations - a Practical Advisory Workshop, Moscow, 16-19 April 2012
Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia: a Crime Victimization Survey Workshop, Bangkok, 11-14 June 2012
Training
Regional Training Course on System of National Accounts 2008, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 21-25 May 2012
Two-months Course in Application of Information Management and Related ICT for Official Statistics, Chiba, Japan, started 21 May 2012
Regional Training Workshop on the 2010 round of Population and Housing Censuses and Evidence Based Policy Making, Chiba, Japan, 7-11 May 2012
Collaboration
Sharing knowledge to improve MDG monitoring and reporting: inter-regional MDG Indicators Meeting, Santiago, 15-17 May 2012
Sixth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Gender Statistics, 25-26 March 2012; and fourth Global Forum on Gender Statistics, 27–29 March 2012, Dead Sea, Jordan
Preparatory Regional Meeting of Labour Statisticians in support of the 19th ICLS (Asia and Pacific), Bangkok, 2-4 May 2012
Improving agricultural and rural statistics for food security: Workshop on Developing Country Action Plans, Manila, 2-4 May 2012
Implementation of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural Statistics: Meeting of the Drafting Committee, Bangkok, 24-25 May 2012
Reviewing the 2010 census round and integrating agricultural questions with the 2020 round: Pacific Population and Housing Census Workshops, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea, 21 May-1 June 2012
Developing a strategy to improve social statistics in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group, Bangkok, 13-15 June 2012
Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM), Second SPRINT meeting, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 23-27 April 2012
Data dissemination and communication: UNSD Regional Workshop, Manila, 20-22 June 2012
Calendar of forthcoming statistical meetings in Asia and the Pacific region
Staff movement
New faces in Statistics Division
Visitors to ESCAP Statistics Division
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Towards improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in the Asia-Pacific region: Establishment of a multi-partner collaborative arrangement
Registration of vital events, such as births and deaths, is not only central to establishing a person’s legal status but also to understanding the health and demographic characteristics of a nation. ESCAP, in close collaboration with a multitude of development partners, is embarking on a regional initiative to improve Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems across the Asia-Pacific region in a comprehensive and inclusive manner.
The initiative is a multi-step and multi-partner regional process, involving Ministries of Public Health, Ministries of Interior, Civil Registrars and National Statistical Offices from all member countries. The purpose is to formulate and endorse a Regional Plan for the Improvement of CRVS. Following ESCAP Resolution 67/12, the Regional Plan will rely on findings of objective assessments of the current systems and the quality of vital statistics produced.
ESCAP member countries will formulate the Regional Plan through consultations. To this end, a High-Level Meeting on Improving CRVS will take place in Bangkok on 10-11 December 2012. ESCAP, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Royal Thai Government are co-hosting this meeting. The first day of the High-Level Meeting will also coincide with the annual observance of the International Human Rights Day (10 December), shedding light on the human rights perspectives of CRVS systems.
These plans are not new in the ESCAP region. The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has already developed a Pacific Plan 2011-2020 for Improving Statistics in the Pacific region. A key component is the Pacific Vital Statistics Action Plan 2011-2015 which has been formally endorsed by Pacific Health Ministers. The Pacific Plan will support and complement the Regional Plan to be facilitated by ESCAP. Also, several countries have already conducted assessments of their civil registration and vital statistics systems and are developing national strategies and plans for accelerated improvement under the UNESCAP/UNDP/ADB programme, “Supporting the Achievements of the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific.”
With the Millennium Development Goals target year 2015 just around the corner, the focus on producing reliable vital statistics is as urgent as ever. Vital statistics are essential for producing timely and accurate population estimates and other demographic and health statistics, which are basic requirements for effective policy-making, efficient resource allocation and evaluation of achievements.
Vital statistics are most effectively derived at local levels, from civil registration systems that record vital events such as births, deaths, marriages and adoptions. A civil registration system allows for the compulsory, permanent, continuous and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events. Civil registration also safeguards human rights with respect to social identity and benefits for every member of the population, as internationally agreed on in the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Declaration on the Right to Development.
A civil registration system is critical for raising the visibility of and improving policy focus on the most vulnerable groups, including women and children in poverty, migrants, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. Birth certificates and other civil records issued to members of these groups provide a basis for designing social protection schemes that reduce risks and vulnerabilities and help to prevent and reduce statelessness.
Civil registration systems in many countries of the Asia-Pacific region, however, suffer from various deficiencies. Registration coverage is often incomplete, vital events are not recorded properly and registration records do not reach the vital statistics system in a timely manner. As a result, many countries have resorted to developing and/or using alternative sources of data on vital events, such as population censuses, household sample surveys and surveillance on sentinel sites or sample registration systems to generate vital statistics. Although useful, these sources cannot replace civil registration records as a source of continuous, universal and disaggregated data. Moreover, these sources do not bring the legal and human rights benefits of civil registration.
Actions to remedy incomplete registration need to address both demand and supply side issues. On the demand side, there is a lack of awareness of the need to register, lack of incentives to register and sometimes discriminatory practices towards particular marginalised groups. Furthermore, costs related with registering a vital event may outweigh the perceived benefits of registration. In some subpopulations, language, customs, beliefs and practices may impede accurate reporting of vital events. Incomplete registration can also be due to lack of awareness of medical professionals. On the supply side, factors impeding registration include limited availability of registration facilities, lack of infrastructure and equipment, and inadequate training of registration personnel.
The regional partnership brings together a multitude of development partners, including ESCAP, World Health Organization - particularly its West Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO) and the South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO)- the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organization for Migration. The initiative relies on instrumental technical assistance from the University of Queensland Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub (UQ HISHub), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Plan International.
Capacity Development
Supporting effective use of information and communication technology in population census operations - a Practical Advisory Workshop, Moscow, 16-19 April 2012
The ESCAP Statistics Division in collaboration with the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation (Rosstat) organized the workshop in Moscow from 16 to 19 April 2012. The programme of the workshop was developed jointly by ESCAP and Rosstat based on the outcomes of a need assessment workshop held in Novosibirsk in July 2010 under the same Russian Federation funded project. In addition to these priority issues, the practical advisory workshop also covered emerging international standards underlying the modernization of statistical information systems.
Organized as a practical advisory workshop, the meeting offered opportunities for participants to learn, debate, and experiment with a number of methodological concepts and software tools through hands-on exercises. The main topics covered by the 4-days workshop included: the Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) and the Generic Statistical Information Model (GSIM); DDI and microdata dissemination; the Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange standard (SDMX); Data dissemination and Geographical Information Systems (GIS); and electronic questionnaires.
Bringing together methodologists and information technology experts from national statistical offices from 13 countries (Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam), the workshop’s main objective was for participants to gain knowledge of emerging concepts, standards and frameworks developed by the international statistical community to support the modernization of statistical information systems. The workshop aimed to enable participants to be able to integrate some of these in developing ICT development plans for their organization towards more automated, cost-effective and adaptive information systems.
Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia: a Crime Victimization Survey Workshop, Bangkok, 11-14 June 2012
As a kick-off activity of the project “Strengthening statistical capacity for crime prevention in Asia”, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with ESCAP organized a training workshop on crime victimization surveys. The training workshop brought together team leaders from selected target countries in the Asia-Pacific region and international and regional experts.
The objective of the project is to support the implementation of victimization surveys in three selected countries in the region. The experiences and lessons learned from these surveys will be disseminated as models and reference points and will facilitate the replication of victimization surveys in other countries in the region.
The workshop provided specialized training to national implementing partners, on victimization surveys (sampling techniques, selection and training of interviewers, data entry and analysis) and an opportunity to discuss and agree on a common survey methodology and comparable survey instruments among implementing countries.
Training
Regional Training Course on System of National Accounts 2008, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 21-25 May 2012
