Integrating civil registration and vital statistics systems and legal identity management in the digital era

Abstract

An integrated approach will enable States to adopt and implement a holistic approach to the civil registration of all vital events, the production of vital statistics, and the establishment and maintenance of population registers and identity management apparatus from birth to death. There should be full interoperability between these functions in a simultaneous manner, in line with international standards and recommendations. This will entail integrating the current work under the APAI-CRVS secretariat and the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda 2020-2030. From the normative aspect and mandate, an integrated approach focuses on expanding the existing international methodological framework on CRVS to cover identity management in a single system that ensures legal identity for all from birth to end of life. Countries will be advised to adopt this solution. The right to legal identity is non-derivable, meaning that it is considered such a fundamental human right that it can never be restricted or suspended, even in an emergency. In the context of international human rights law, all States have the obligation to ensure the legal recognition of individuals in their territory.