UNICEF, World Health Organization and other organizations drafted an addendum to the WHO/UNICEF guidance Health sector contributions towards improving the civil registration of births and deaths in low-income countries. The addendum reminds us that “one of the most effective ways to increase rates of civil registration is to establish a more proactive role for the health sector in the civil registration system”. The addendum describes two options which give the health sector a more active role: in some countries the health sector directly notifies vital events to the civil registrar and the informant (often the family) also interacts with the civil registrar; in other countries the health sector is the official informant. This last option results in very high rates of civil registration. The addendum adds that “In addition to requiring a proactive role for the health sector, increasing access to civil registration service points can also facilitate complete civil registration”. In systems that rely on the family to declare vital events, co-locating civil registration services with health services can greatly increase access to these services. This addendum strongly encourages countries to consider adopting these options and to consider co-location methods. CHIP welcomes this addendum as a helpful contributor to ensuring every child has a identity.

Sources

https://data.unicef.org/resources/improving-the-civil-registration-of-births-and-deaths-in-low-income-countries-guidance-for-the-health-sector/; https://spccfpstore1.blob.core.windows.net/digitallibrary-docs/files/be/bed34ea13a431b35e31fa4c55156effe.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=1Ap76UJiZEVi1pSbe%2Fmm00a%2F98wYPd5847WXZcE4T7Q%3D&se=2023-08-09T13%3A49%3A37Z&sp=r&rscc=public%2C%20max-age%3D864000%2C%20max-stale%3D86400&rsct=application%2Fpdf&rscd=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22Role_of_health_CR_options_and_methods_2022.pdf%22