BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRY SPEARHEADS CRVS WORKSHOP.

The Births and Deaths Registry in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service, on the 27th of March began a training workshop for institutions whose operations border around the production of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS).

The four day training formed part of activities of the CRVS system improvement framework project in Ghana. Sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the workshop brought together participants from the Ghana police service, National Identification Authority, Judicial Service, the Ghana Health Service, National road safety Authority, Office of the Attorney General’s Department, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, Pathology department of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Registrar General’s Department and other individuals who have expertise in the CRVS system in Ghana.

The workshop sought to assess the progress Ghana has made in terms of the development of its CRVS system, especially after the time period for the implementation of the last CRVS strategic plan had elapsed in 2022. This workshop was projected to give an opportunity to all participants to learn from the lapses and challenges faced during the implementation of the aforementioned plan and develop more concrete measures that would strengthen Ghana’s CRVS systems.

It is against this backdrop that the Ag. Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry, Ms. Henrietta Lamptey in her opening remarks established the fact that the workshop was a very significant activity that marked the continuation of a journey that will transform Ghana’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) landscape.

She acknowledged that even though Ghana has a long history of CRVS, the level of civil registration of vital events and the quality of the data produced remains unacceptably low, especially in the area of death registration.

The Ag. Registrar was hopeful that through the workshop, participants will be equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to effectively improve the process of registering vital events in order to be able to achieve the United Nations sustainable.

The Chief of the Demographic & Social Statistics Section at the African Centre for Statistics of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. William Muhwava expressed his excitement to be part of the workshop.

He noted that the United Nations Economic Commision for Africa (UNECA) was happy to partner with Ghana and the stakeholders in the CRVS ecosystem to improve Ghana’s CRVS system. While he commended the institutions and agencies for the work they have done so far, he expressed his displeasure in the fact that initial initiatives had been left hanging. Dr. Muhwava admonished participants to own the CRVS system and drive it.

He was of the view that in this time of donor fatigue, there was the need for Ghana to be more proactive in ensure the country gets things right this time. Dr. Felicia Dake, the consultant for the initiative highlighted that the workshop has brought together different stakeholders in the CRVS value chain to critically examine the current status of the CRVS system and to develop a sustainable strategy to improve and run the system effectively and efficiently.Over the course of the four-day training workshop, Participants were taken through various topics that were aimed at improving their understanding of the business process models of CRVS. They were admonished to see CRVS as business and treat it as such by becoming more client centered.

The participants were then split into task teams and challenged to develop solutions to a wide array of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics themes like marriages, divorce, birth registration and death registration among others. Participants in the workshop were also tasked to subject the country’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system to certain key performance indicators.

This is projected to help measure the processes involved in Civil and their accompanying outcomes against a set standard of performances. At the end of the training program, the Ag. Registrar of the Births and Deaths Registry commended the participants for heeding the call to revive the country’s CRVS system.

She also expressed optimism about Ghana’s CRVS fortunes owing to the level of commitment and dedication displayed by all participants of the workshop.

The Ag. Registrar charged all participating institutions to religiously implement the ideas shared during the workshop in order to provide quality service to clients against the ultimate goal of recording accurate and reliable data for the socio-economic development of Ghana.

Story by Daniel Boateng/flyfmghana.com