Duties and Responsibilities
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes an inclusive and sustainable future for all with a focus on leaving no one behind. A well-functioning civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system helps ensure that every person has a legal identity which facilitates access to the benefits and protections of the State. Further, robust CRVS systems are necessary to inform policy makers about the health and well-being of different populations, and to adequately allocate resources to serve populations for education, health care, infrastructure, social protection and other services administered at local level. Without reliable vital statistics derived from civil registration, it is difficult to understand how fast a population is growing (or shrinking) and to anticipate its future needs, as well as monitor the health and well-being of different populations and gender differences so that health interventions can be put in place accordingly. Death registration is critical to inform mortality patterns - who is dying, where, at what age, and from what cause. Without this information, it is not possible to improve the health and longevity of a population. This is particularly important in humanitarian and emergency settings when conflict or natural disasters can increase mortality, and prevent delivery of interventions needed for good health such as clean water, nutrition, skilled birth attendants, vaccinations, etc. Death registration is also important to inform policies related to social security and inheritance. In this way, registering, recording, and providing documentation of life events enhances good governance and sustainable development. However, despite continuous efforts, an estimated 51 million children under the age of five within Asia and the Pacific have not had their birth registered in 2024, and millions of other vital events, including 3.7 million annual deaths, have not been registered. As a result, countries in the region lack the data necessary to make informed policy decisions to improve health, education planning and other well-being outcomes of their populations. Against this backdrop, ESCAP and Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health initiative have collaborated on implemented the project entitled “Getting everyone in the picture: strengthening civil registration and vital statistics systems in Asia and the Pacific”. The work supports implementation of the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific and the further commitments made in the Ministerial Declaration on Building a More Resilient Future with Inclusive Civil Registration and Vital Statistics and the Ministerial Declaration on a Decade of Action for Inclusive and Resilient Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific. While Asia-Pacific civil registrars face unique national challenges in achieving universal registration, they must also address practical registration issues, as well as cross-border issues such as migration caused by conflict, natural hazards and climate change. Strengthening information and communications technology, and adopting innovative approaches to meet these challenges requires registrars to network in a space suitable for sharing ideas, learning from each other, and finding common solutions through South-South cooperation. Recognizing universal civil registration as critical for sustainable and inclusive development, ESCAP and its development partners are supporting subregional networks of civil registrars, including a network for South Asian civil registration professionals (CR8) and a network of South-East Asian civil registrars. The objectives of these networks are: 1. facilitate knowledge exchange and potential collaboration on issues of concern to civil registrars in the region 2. document existing practices in the region and common challenges The consultancy will support the documentation of existing practices related to data sharing for civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in South Asia, as well as emerging lessons on CRVS system resilience in South East Asia. One of the themes of the meeting of CR8 - planned for 13-15 July 2026 - is data sharing. Effective CRVS data sharing between government agencies including the civil registration authority, health sector, identification authority, national statistical offices, and, as applicable, with specific service registries such as the social protection registry to facilitate service provision, is essential for improving data quality, generating timely vital statistics, and strengthening governance. However, many countries in South Asia continue to face challenges in establishing clear data-sharing protocols, interoperable systems, and safeguards for privacy and security. As a result, important data often remain siloed, limiting their potential use for planning and service delivery. One of the themes for the meeting of the South-East Asian civil registrars - tentatively planned for September 2026 - is CRVS resilience. Countries in South-East Asia have increasingly recognized the need to strengthen CRVS resilience, particularly in the context of hazard- and climate- induced disasters, public health emergencies, displacement of populations, and other shocks common to the region. Disruptions caused by these events can impede or overwhelm registration operations, reduce completeness, and delay the production of vital statistics. Despite their significant implications, gaps in preparedness, continuity planning, and system adaptability are often overlooked. Enhanced data sharing and system resilience are central to achieving the Ministerial Declaration to “Get Every One in the Picture” in Asia and the Pacific. The Regional Action Framework (RAF) for the Asia Pacific CRVS Decade 2015–2024 (ESCAP resolution 71/14 and the Ministerial Declaration on a Decade of Action for Inclusive and Resilient Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific encourages countries to strengthen mechanisms that support timely, reliable, and comprehensive CRVS systems. This includes improving data flows, ensuring interoperability across administrative data systems, and developing resilient operational frameworks capable of functioning before, during, and after crises. The thematic discussions during the meeting of Civil registration professionals in South Asia (CR8) will examine how countries can enhance CRVS data sharing in South Asia with a focus on data governance and personal data protection and how civil registration authorities need to consider these issues. For South-East Asia, discussions will focus on strategies to build CRVS resilience, such as continuity of operations planning, digital innovation, decentralized service models, and flexible registration procedures during emergencies. Examples may include mobile registration units, strengthened local registration capacity, and emergency responsive data systems. Resilience should be considered in terms of physical resilience (such as in-person registration and outreach, decentralized service models on the ground, short term emergency service models at borders and areas of disasters - particularly registering deaths, flexible registration procedures during emergencies that align with international principles of universality, compulsory, timeliness etc.,) and digital resilience (such as digital processes and systems: digital infrastructure backups and redundancies, cybersecurity and data protection standards, offline protocols, digitization of offline emergency records etc.) to help frame and guide conversations.
