More support for Vietnam’s civil registration, vital statistics

UNFPA Vietnam and Vital Strategies on August 9 signed an agreement for the second phase of their work under the Data for Health Initiative, supporting the Government’s efforts to improve civil registration and vital statistics.

Vietnam joined the initiative, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in March 2020, and the second phase will be implemented from July 2021 to March 2023 by Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the relevant ministries and agencies.

Dr. Kelly Henning, Public Health Programme Lead from Bloomberg Philanthropies, said that the partnership aims to help the government of Vietnam in their efforts to collect better public health data. Stronger civil registration and vital statistics systems provide better data to assist in decision making that protects the health of the Vietnamese people, Dr. Henning added.

Jana Shih, Technical Advisor for Vietnam and Thailand, CRVS, at Vital Strategies, said that registering births and deaths is key to unlocking the rights and protection of individuals, as well as providing decision makers with data that can guide their policies to improve the quality of life for all. Strengthening the CRVS system’s legal framework in Vietnam is a critical step toward meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal targets of universal birth registration and 80% death registration by 2030.

In the first phase, the programme supported the quality improvements of birth and death registrations through strengthening CRVS governance, assessing CRVS system functioning, conducting a review of the CRVS legal framework, and designing the improvement framework on the registration of births and deaths and other vital statistics.

The second phase of the programme will focus on further strengthening CRVS governance and the legal framework; applying digital solutions to improving CRVS processes and capacity development; and improving collaboration between the relevant ministries in sharing the CRVS data to be used in policymaking. The programme will also pilot an innovative model on the registration of births and deaths for nationwide scaling.

Nguyen Cong Khanh, Director of Civil Registration, Nationality and Attestation Department, Ministry of Justice, emphasised the important role of the programme’s second phase, adding that this partnership would contribute to improving the legal framework and CRVS business processes in a more modern way; promoting creative communication and inter-sectoral coordination at all levels.

The linkage and sharing of data and statistics, especially on births and deaths among sectors will not only serve the policy making process of the relevant Ministries, sectors and localities, but also protect people's health and ensure other lawful rights and interests as stipulated by the law, Khanh stated.

The UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, Naomi Kitahara highlighted that the most important outcomes of Phase 1 were the increased capacity of civil servants involved in CRVS and the streamlining of birth and death notification and registration processes.

Activities designed for Phase 2 are critical to ensure a well-functioning CRVS system in Vietnam, thus improving CRVS governance at national and subnational levels and providing legal and protective advantages to individuals, the UN official added, saying that a well-functioning CRVS system would help ensure individual social benefits including education, health care, property inheritance and the right to vote, amongst others.

Vietnam is implementing the National Action Programme on CRVS for the 2017-2024 period. A modern and progressive CRVS system is expected to provide important data for evidence-based policies, critical for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.