Regional workshop on civil registration and vital statistics systems in Africa : towards new initatives and approaches

Abstract

Civil Registration Systems (CRS) record the occurrence and characteristics of vital events (birth, death, marriage, divorce, adoption, etc.) according to the laws, regulations and legal requirements of a country. For civil registration to serve as primary sources of legal and statistical information, the registration system need to be continuous, complete, permanent, compulsory and universal. The main purpose of civil registration is to document and establish legal records of vital events, and to issue personal identification cards and certificates, such as birth certificates, death certificates and marriage and divorce certificates, which are legal documents recognized by the law of each country. Therefore, the products of the registration systems play a vital role in promoting good governance, facilitating accessibility to public programs and services, such as schools, public health, social welfare and social security services, and other official matters.