Jan Smit ESCAP Statistics Division

1. EGM on International Standards for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems27-30 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. 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. 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

5. Resolution on CR/VS improvement • Adopted at 67th 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. Following decisions of CST • ESCAP Committee on Statistics • Forum of leaders of national statistical systems • 2nd 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Main challenges to be addressed through RP • Improving the legal framework and increasing political commitment and public awareness • Strengthening national coordination and collaboration • Improving completeness of registration of vital events • Improving the availability and quality of VS • Increasing the use and dissemination of VS

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

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

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