About the session
This Stats Café sought to share experiences of countries in the assessment, analysis, and redesign of their CRVS systems using the CRVS System Improvement Framework, including reflections on how the results of this project have informed improvement policies and ongoing system strengthening efforts. The event began with an overview of the CRVS Systems Improvement Framework, followed by three countries sharing their experiences and lessons learned from applying this methodology.
Background
A well-functioning civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system helps ensure that every person has a legal identity, facilitating access to essential benefits and protections of the State.However, in many countries throughout Asia and the Pacific, many people face significant barriers to register a vital event such as a birth or death, often due to the complexity of the process, the time and number of trips needed, distance to the registration facility and the documentation requirements, to name just a few of these barriers.
To support countries in identifying where the bottlenecks are in civil registration processes, some countries in Asia and the Pacific have been utilizing a Business Process Improvement approach to assess, analyse and redesign the underlying processes of their civil registration system, with the end goal of streamlining civil registration processes to alleviate the burden on families reporting vital events. The CRVS Systems Improvement Framework, which was developed under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative in collaboration with other development partners, provides detailed guidance for countries to apply an innovative, multi-sectoral, participatory and processcentric approach to examine current CRVS processes, identify gaps and determine areas for improvement. Vital Strategies, ESCAP and WHO-SEARO have been supporting countries in the region to implement Phase 1 of this Framework which includes a detailed process mapping of two selected civil registration processes (usually birth and death registration) and the identification of performance issues and potential improvement policies.
Assessment, Analysis and Redesign of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Processes - Maldives
This report documents the results of the work of the Maldives Core Team in the implementation of the “Assessment, analysis, and redesign” stage of the CRVS System Improvement Framework. Using the methodology and the tools defined by the CRVS System Improvement Framework, the Core Team, supported by a Country Coordinator and a Senior Adviser, organised a range of online and in-person consultations to apply the Framework tools. The consultations enabled the Core Team to provide detailed descriptions of existing birth and death registration business processes, analyse aspects of the processes affecting performance, and design a vision for improving registration business processes, overcoming performance bottlenecks, and increasing overall efficiency.
The report is organised into four distinct parts. The first part introduces the key characteristics of the Maldives CRVS system, as well as background information on the CRVS System Improvement Framework and the methodology for implementing the Framework implementation in the context of Maldives CRVS business processes. The second part of the report provides a detailed description of birth and death registration business processes as presently operated in Maldives. The third part of the report documents the analysis conducted by the Core Team to determine existing business processes, performance bottlenecks and their root causes, as well as redesign suggestions and how best to prioritize improvements. Finally, the fourth part of the report envisions the processes that would emerge after improvement policies are implemented.