Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems encompass the recording of vital events from the birth of an individual onward. Birth registration establishes an individual’s legal identity; the registration of death terminates it. However, CRVS systems are often fragmented across various government entities, such as civil registration offices, municipal records offices, and health facilities recording birth.
In many low- and middle-income countries, CRVS systems have been paper-based. Digitization of CRVS systems and broader digitalization require appropriate funding and institutional as well as government commitment. Compared to digitalization efforts related to national ID and digital ID, progress in the digitalization of CRVS systems has lagged given the reliance on legacy technologies, comparatively limited resources, and decentralized business processes.
