June 2025, World: Strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Eastern and Southern Africa Strategic programme framework

In line with international and regional commitments, UNICEF ESARO and its partners have developed a Strategic Programme Framework for Strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Eastern and Southern Africa. This initiative aims to close the birth registration gap through three accelerators: Interoperability, decentralisation and digitalisation, in order to overcome major barriers.

As an example of interoperability and digitalization, UNICEF ESARO supports linking digital civil registration systems with health and social services to enable seamless data sharing. For instance, in Namibia, birth and death records are integrated with health databases. As for decentralisation, UNICEF ESARO’s 2018-2020 strategy helped Tanzania and Zanzibar improve policies, budgeting, and citizen participation, reinforcing local governance and equitable service delivery.

The Framework envisions universal birth registration and legal identity in the region by 2030. With strengthened CRVS systems in 21 countries, the goal is to reach 95% birth registration.

CHIP welcomes this framework as an essential step toward ensuring legal identity for all children in the region and believes in the effectiveness of these three accelerators.

See: UNICEF ESARO. Strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Eastern and Southern Africa; Strategic programme framework. May 2025.

Available at: https://www.unicef.org/esa/media/15701/file/UNICEF-Birth-Registration-Program-Framework-ESA-2025.pdf