Regional Commitments and Progress
- Governments across Asia-Pacific signed a landmark declaration to ensure universal birth and death registration by 2030.
- The decision is part of extending the “CRVS Decade” (2015–2024) initiative led by UN-ESCAP to “get everyone in the picture”.
- Birth and death registrations are seen as foundational to legal identity and access to rights/services.
- Vital events include births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and causes of death.
Relevance : GS 2(International Relations , Governance)
Statistical Gains (2012–2022)
- Children under 5 without birth registration dropped from 135 million to 51 million (60% decline).
- 29 countries have achieved over 90% birth registration; 30 countries for death registration.
- Improved quality of cause of death reporting noted.
- Yet, 14 million children remain unregistered at birth each year, and 6.9 million deaths go unrecorded annually.
Why CRVS Matters
- Birth registration enables access to education, health, protection from trafficking and child marriage.
- Death certificates help with inheritance, insurance, and closure of identity.
- Tied to SDG 16.9: “Legal identity for all, including birth registration”.
India’s Efforts
- Birth registration rate rose from 86% to 96% during the CRVS decade.
- Digital transformation enabled by amendments to the RBD Act (1969):
- Online registration
- Use of DigiLocker
- Recognition of surrogate, adopted, abandoned, and single-parent children.
- New central CRVS portal launched; cause-of-death reporting made mandatory for medical institutions.
- Support from UNICEF for digitising old records.
Voices from the Conference
- Children’s advocacy highlighted: “Bureaucracy shouldn’t be the reason we remain invisible.”
- ESCAP’s Armida Alisjahbana praised political will, digital innovation, and regional cooperation.
- Fiji’s Justice Minister emphasized shared commitment: “Together we can ensure everyone is seen, heard, and counted.”
Challenges and Future Actions
- Remaining gaps due to:
- Bureaucracy and lack of awareness
- Weak inter-departmental coordination
- Low prioritisation at state/local levels
- Focus areas till 2030:
- Inclusive service delivery
- Digital transformation
- Legal strengthening and privacy safeguards
- Gender equity in registration
