Civil Registration Process: Place, Time, Cost, Late Registration

1. Brisbane Accord Group Session 7. Institutional arrangements and integration of civil registration, vital statistics, population registers and identity management Civil Registration Process: Place, Time, Cost, Late Registration UNITED NATIONS STATISTICS DIVISION Workshop on Operation of Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management Systems and the Production of Vital Statistics Reports for the Eastern Mediterranean Countries (Group 1) Casablanca, Morocco, 19 - 23 March 2018 with

2. Civil registration • Civil registration is • Continuous • Permanent • Compulsory, and • Universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events pertaining to the population • As provided through law, decree or regulation in accordance with the legal requirements of the country • Primary purpose – establishing documents provided by law • Secondary purpose – ideal source of vital statistics

3. Civil registration • Civil registration method • Refers to the procedure employed in gathering the basic information on the incidence and characteristics of vital events that occur in the population of the country • Upon which the preparation of vital records with legal value • And the production of vital statistics is based • Mandated by law • Civil registration system • Institutional, legal and technical settings needed for the performance of civil registration functions in a technical, sound, coordinated and standardized manner • Functions include • Recording vital events • Storing, safekeeping and retrieval of vital records • Protection of confidentiality • Issuing certificates and other customer service • Reporting information on vital events for statistical purposes • Providing information to other government agencies, such as ministry of health, population registers, pension funds systems, electoral services, personal identification services etc.

4. Civil registration • Fundamental role of the civil registration system • Provision of legal instruments to individuals, that is, registering the occurrence of acts and events that constitute the source of civil status and issuing certificates • Facts relating to existence • Identity • Civil status • Family status • Legal and protective function • Legal identity • Human rights • Directly linked to registration, such as the right to be registered and to have a name, as per Article 7 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child • Derived from the fact that the person is registered, such as the right to vote, pursuant to article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights • Administrative advantages • Access to services • Statistical advantages

5. Civil registration models • Centralized administration for civil registration • One agency dedicated to administering civil registration • Advantages • Uniformity of procedures throughout the country, standard legal framework • Uniform interpretation and enforcement of norms and regulations • More efficient interoperability with other government agencies, such as the identity management • Direct and effective control over the entire system • Facilitates and streamlines training and technical support • In terms of interoperability with statistical function • Separate agencies – one for civil registration and the other for statistical function • Coordination is of critical interest – Inter-agency Committee is invaluable • Memorandum of agreement – another option • Flow of data – procedures and protocols • Single agency for both civil registration and vital statistics

6. Civil registration models • Decentralized administration for civil registration • More than one model • Civil registration is administered by municipal government – uniform legal framework, content, forms (Europe) • Civil registration is administered by states or provinces – harmonization at the national level (Canada, US) • Other combinations • Major considerations • Ensuring uniformity of procedures throughout the country • Uniformity of legal framework • Harmonization at national level • Rules for recognition of different certificates • Statistical component

7. Civil registration models • Principles for coordination • Uniform legislation and regulations • Identical definitions of vital events • Statistical concepts, classifications and definitions • Consistency between the numerator and denominator • Implementation of international standards • Inter-agency coordination committee • Coordination within the system • Communication (conferences, workshops, training courses …) • Evaluation • Professional association (statisticians/registrars/health workers)

8. Civil registration and vital statistics • Separate agencies – critical issues • Coordination • Division of labour • Long list of characteristics of the vital event and the persons involved • Informants – extraordinary role – health institutions • Submit the notification form to the registrar • Registrar checks, validates and completes the information in the form • Official entry in the register, issues certificate • Registrar transmits the form (paper or electronic) to statistics • Statistics processes the form – data entry, coding, editing, compilation, dissemination

9. Civil registration and vital statistics • Administrative setup • Coordination Committee • Members: civil registration, national statistics, health authorities • Coordination Committee responsibilities • Developing instruction on • Definitions of vital events • Coding schemes • Generation of unique identifier • Content of form • Statistical classifications • Training curricula for informants, registrars and statisticians • Quality control • Field visits • Procedures and protocols for recording and reporting the events (deadlines, formats …) • Transmission protocols • Initiatives for revising legislative framework

10. Civil registration, vital statistics and population registers • Population register • Computerized database with a separate entry/record for each individual • Centralized at the national level, or • De-centralized, at the level of civil divisions • Registers are operated • Separate agency established for that purpose • Police, home affairs • Tax office • National statistical office • Other government office • Purpose • Primary function is to provide reliable information for the administrative purpose (programme planning, budgeting, taxation …) • Personal identification, voting, education, military service, social insurance and welfare, police and court reference • In reality, population register is organized as a set of databases that are linked by unique identifier

11. Civil registration, vital statistics and population registers • Registration process – very similar to the one presented • Long list of characteristics of the vital event and the persons involved • Informants – extraordinary role – health institutions • Submit the notification form to the registrar • Registrar checks, validates and completes the information in the form • Official entry in the population register, issues certificate • Statistics is accessing the population register and processes the data – coding, editing, compilation, dissemination • Considerations • Identical definitions and terminology – major challenge • Confidentiality of individual information • Advantages • Dynamic mechanisms updated on daily basis • Cost reduction • Better service delivery • Longitudinal research • Timely and comprehensive vital statistics

12. Civil registration, vital statistics and identity management • Identity • Cultural, ethnic, religious … • Legal identity is of paramount importance – access to services, exercise of basic human rights, entry in the legal framework • Identity is established by issuing birth certificate, with the name of the newborn, data and place of birth, names of parents – lasts for a lifetime – until the issuance of a death certificate • Contemporary challenges • Considerable number of persons without birth certificate as a consequence of inadequate and universal civil registration • Necessity of obtaining the information on the size and characteristics of population • Safety and security requirements in terms of identifying individuals • Solution: Establishing an identity management agency that will identify every individual, collect biometrics (fingerprints, iris scan, photographs) and issue an identity document • Challenge: Integrating civil registration and vital statistics in this paradigm

13. Civil registration, vital statistics and identity management • Integration • Integrating civil registration in the identity management function in two ways • Civil registration remains separate and provides direct input into population register that is also accessed by the identity management agency • Identity management agency directly incorporates civil registration function and is authorized to undertake official registration and issuance of certificates • Integrating vital statistics function – a sine qua non of a holistic approach - bigger challenge • National statistical system is well established in most countries and vital statistics is part of it • Neither civil registration nor identity management usually have advanced knowledge and understanding of statistics production • Holistic system • Informants and notifiers collect all the information as per international standards • Registrar validates and certifies the content, issues certificate, enters all the information into population register • Maintenance and operation of population register by the identity management agency • Statistics office develops protocols and procedures for extracting information from the register and produces regular and timely vital statistics

14. Live births Health services Certification of cause of death Complementary/ Interim sources Population census Surveys Sample registration areas Deaths Civil Registration, including population registers Principles: • Compulsory • Universal • Continuous • Confidentiality Fetal deaths Vital Statistics Compilation Processing Validation Quality control Dissemination Authorized institutions Marriages Divorces Additional administrative sources Coronary Police Registries Health records Annulments Judicial separations Courts Judicial institutions Adoptions Legitimation National IDs’ Electoral lists Passports … Recognition Vital Statistics System