1. EGM on International Standards for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems 27-30 June 2011, New York Towards a regional programme for the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics in Asia and the Pacific Jan Smit ESCAP Statistics Division

2. 2 Overview  Where are we on the regional programme (RP) for the improvement of civil registration and vital statistics (CR/VS) in Asia and the Pacific?  How did we get here?  How does the RP currently look like?  What are the immediate plans?

3. 3 ESCAP  Regional arm of the United Nations  Intergovernmental forum for all countries and territories of the Asian and Pacific region  The largest of the five regional commissions of the United Nations in terms of area covered, people served and membership  53 members and 9 associate members, representing over 60 percent of world’s population

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5. 5 Resolution on CR/VS improvement  Adopted at 67 th Commission session, May 2011  Calls upon members to: –Review and assess current functioning of CRS and quality of VS –Use assessment results to develop and implement comprehensive and costed strategies and plans to strengthen CR/VS systems –Strengthen capacities of relevant institutions  Calls upon UN, international financial institutions, development partners, NGOs, private sector to: –Support countries in strengthening CR/VS systems

6. 6 Following decisions of CST  ESCAP Committee on Statistics  Forum of leaders of national statistical systems  2 nd session, Dec 2010: –Decided that all countries should have, by 2020, the capability to provide an agreed basic range of population, economic, social & environmental statistics –Agreed to fully develop a regional programme (RP) for improving CR/VS –Indication by several delegations of a draft resolution on improving CR/VS systems for consideration at next ESCAP session (May 2011)

7. 7 How did we get there?  CST 1 (Feb 2009) recognized central role of VS in generating reliable population estimates and other development indicators required for policy planning and evaluation  But, also noted persistent lack of progress in development of vital statistics  Requested Secretariat to pay special attention to VS, specifically by: –Bringing health authorities, registrars-general and national statisticians of member countries together –Supporting countries with weak CR systems

8. 8 Subsequent consultation process  Intensive, and as inclusive as possible  Scoping & planning meeting of development partners, May 2009  Regional Task Force meeting, Sept 2009  Regional forum, June 2010  Region-wide rapid assessment of CR/VS systems

9. 9 Countries and partners involved  Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam  Australian Bureau of Statistics, Asian Development Bank, ESCAP, Health Metrics Network, University of Queensland Health Information Systems Hub, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO

10. 10 Region-wide rapid assessments  Using WHO-UQ HISHub tool  Sent to all National Statistical Offices in Feb 2010  29 NSOs have reported as of to date –5 dysfunctional or weak –11 functional but inadequate –10 satisfactory: > 90% births & deaths registered –[Remaining 3 received recently and not yet classified]

11. 11 Main challenges to be addressed through RP 1.Improving the legal framework and increasing political commitment and public awareness 2.Strengthening national coordination and collaboration 3.Improving completeness of registration of vital events 4.Improving the availability and quality of VS 5.Increasing the use and dissemination of VS

12. 12 Regional programme goal  Through increased availability and use of reliable VS derived from CR systems, RP aims to contribute to: –Improved evidence-based policymaking –Improved efficiency in resource allocation and good governance –Progressive realization of basic right of all citizens

13. 13 Regional programme expected outcomes  Increased number of countries in region with: –Sustained political commitment and enhanced public awareness to support development and improvement of CR/VS systems –Strengthened legislation and established mechanisms for coordination among key stakeholders within CR/VS systems for effective production and dissemination of basic VS  Increased technical capacity of countries to: –Record and process information on vital events for statistical purposes –Analyze, use and disseminate VS

14. 14 Strategy for RP 1.Supporting country commitments and plans  Long-term, continuing efforts required  Countries’ own commitment and investment critical 2.Stepwise approach towards progress 3.Targeting specific needs for support with a flexible mix of activities 4.Establishing a regional resource base 5.Relying on partnership & improving coordination  Regional coordination mechanism, Partners for Statistics Development in Asia and the Pacific, established in Dec 2010

15. 15 Key RP components 1.Assessing national capacity and supporting the formulation of national action plans  Incl. detailed assessment of CR/VS systems 2.Increasing public awareness and strengthening political support 3.Strengthening legal framework and improving coordination 4.Improving availability and quality of VS 5.Improving analysis, dissemination and use of VS 6.Furthering research and development

16. 16 Ongoing work and next steps  Full development of RP & implementation plan  Organization of ministerial-level regional forum –~ Feb 2012; with Health Metrics Network –Will hopefully endorse RP  Facilitating coordination and cooperation among development partners –Partners for Statistics Development in Asia-Pacific  Supporting selected countries in formulating improvement plans –On basis of detailed assessment of CR/VS systems

17. 17 Thank you ESCAP Vital Statistics: www.unescap.org/stat/vital-stat