Marriage and divorce registration in Africa a neglected yet important component of a fully functional civil registration and vital statistics system

Abstract

The ECA report of the status of CRVS in Africa raises an important point about the situation with regard to the registration or certification of marriages and divorces in the continent. It shows that marriage and divorce registration is not accorded the same priority as birth and death registration. This is unfortunate because, as highlighted above, marriage and divorce certificates are also critical enablers of access to rights and social services, in the same way that birth and death certificates are. Thus, as the decade for re positioning CRVS in Africa gains momentum and efforts to strengthen CRVS systems in the continent are rolled out, it will be crucial to increase system capacities so that all vital events recommended in the Principles and Recommendations (revision 3) are registered. This means improvement efforts across the board, including improvements in marriage and divorce registration as an integral part of the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.