1. Namibia: Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System
Technical Seminar on Legal Framework for Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management, July 2017
Anette Bayer Forsingdal and Tulimeke Munyika

2. Country overview Gained independence in 1990 Total: 824 292 KM2
Population Density: 2,5 person per square kilo metre
Regions: 14
Population Size: 2, 4 million ( census 2011)
Urban Population: 45, 7 %
Population growth: 2,4%
Income category: Upper middle income
Gini co-efficient: ( 2009/2010)

3. MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & IMMIGRATION
Mandate:
Manage National Population Register
Facilitate lawful migration

4. Structure of Civil Registration Dept.
Deputy Permanent Secretary
(Registrar General)
Director (HO)
Director
(Regional Coordination)
Births
Deaths ID
Births
Marriages and Deaths
ID production

5. e-NPRS Person Population Profile Data Architecture Model
Birth Part
Person’s Profile
Example Profile Linkages
Identity Part
Marriage Part
Profile Person / Child
Person Core
Profile No.
Surname,
First names
Birthdate
Place born
Country born
Etc.
Profile No.
Marriage Officer Part
Profile Spouse
Death Part
Risk Status Part
Profile No.
Photo Part
Profile Mother
Profile No.
Certificate Management Part
Document Archive Part
Profile No.: Connects all profile parts to the Person Core and secondary to each other.

6. Civil Registration, Civil Identification and Vital Statistics Context Model for Namibia - FUTURE
Certifications
National Statistics
Vital Events
Notification Entities
National Identity Interoperability Platform
Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration (MHAI)
Public / Private Health Facilities
Birth or death notification form
National Statistics Office (NSA)
Vital Statistics
Compilation
Processing
Validation
Dissemination
Civil
Identification
Registration
Vital
Statistics
Health
Sector
Live birth
Death
Civil Registration and Population Register 1 Functions
Birth, Marriages/Divorces, Death, Registries and ID Documents
Fetal death
Marriage officers
Marriage
eNIDM Platform
Statistical Databases
Vital Statistics, Standardized Data, Other
High Court
Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (database of adoptions)
e-Population & ID Services
Notification, Identity, Births, Marriages/Divorces & Deaths
Divorce
Link between Civil Registration, Civil Identification and Vital Statistics
National Population Registration and ID Management System
Data and Process Integration Services
Adoption
Public Sector
eGov / Registries / Databases 2
Healthcare, Education,
Social Assistance, Voters, Taxation, Veterans, Business Registers, Land Register and Crime Register
CN3 + CR4 + ID5
National Population Register & ID 1
Application Entities
Biometric and Images
Citizens / Permanent Residents / Non-Citizens
Birth, ID or death registration form
Birth
Civil Identification: NID / eID / Biometric ID 1 Functions
Provisioning, De-provisioning, Identification, Verification, Reputation,
Authentication, Authorization and Auditing.
Citizenship
Private Sector
Registries / Databases 2
Healthcare, Education,
Pension and Financial
Key:
Legal (Foundational) registries
Administrative (Functional) registries
CN: Civil Notification Data
CR: Civil Registration Data
ID: Identity Data
Death
NID / eID Card
Customer Services

7. AS-IS: Roles and Responsibilities
Ministry of Health and Social Services NOTIFIES
Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration REGISTERS
Children’s Court ISSUE ADOPTION ORDER
Marriage Officer (pastor/magistrate) SOLEMNISES & NOTIFIES
High Court NULLIFIES / DISSOLVES
Ministry of Health and Social Services NOTIFIES (natural death)
Namibian Police NOTIFIES (unnatural death)
Magistrates Court (inquests on cause of death, unnatural death)

8. Current Civil Registration Laws
Namibian Constitution
Article 4: Criteria for Namibia citizenship by birth, descent, marriage, and naturalisation.
Article 15: Children have ‘right from birth to a name’ and ‘the right to acquire a nationality’
Aliens Act, No. 1 of 1937
Marriage Act, No. 25 of 1961
Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act, No. 81 of 1963
Namibian Citizenship Act, No. 14 of 1990
Inquests Act, No. 6 of 1993
Dissolution of Marriages on Presumption of Death Act, No. 31 of 1993
Identification Act, No. 21 of 1996
Child Care and Protection Act, No. 3 of 2015

9. LEGISLATIVE OVERHAUL
Aliens Act, 1937
Births, Marriages and Deaths Registration Act, 1963
Identification Act, 1996
National Population Register Bill / Civil Registration and Identification Bill
TOTAL REPEAL of
MARRIAGE ACT

10. LEGISLATIVE OVERHAUL: New Provisions
Notification systems (e-birth, e-death, intention to marry)
Registration of different categories of children
(1) Citizens,
(2) Non-citizens,
(3) Citizenship not determined
Specific provisions for refugees, abandoned children, children conceived out of rape, children of undocumented parents
Allocation of unique ID numbers at registration of birth
Access to records by individuals and data-sharing with stakeholders, incl. vital statistics to Statistics Agency
Amendment of records
Re-creation of records
Rules related to names and surnames

11. Other Major Improvement Initiatives vis-à-vis capturing and recording VS
e-birth notification launched
e-death notification being designed
Birth registration forms improved
Annual Vital Statistics Reports initiated (based on NPRS data)
Interfacing NPRS (MHAI) with Vital Statistical Database (NSA)
CVRS Coordination (2014 Assessment; 5 year Strategic Plan for CRVS, TWG established, MoUs with NSA % MoHSS)

12. e-birth notification
Ministry of Homer Affairs Ministry of Health

13. e-death notification
Homer Affairs Mortuary Health

14. Challenges in the Bill
Stakeholder coordination (agreeing on variables and processes)
Privacy, Confidentiality & data sharing
No government policy and therefore no data protection act)