UNITED NATIONS
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PRESS RELEASE
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1994CIYII , BIGIS'nL\TIOft AlP y UM :ttATISTl n l SXSTDlS . .15OOP Opars III AlBIC6, H611.
With the cooperation of the United Hationa Depart_nt for Econo.ic and SOCial Info~tion and Policy Analysis (DESIPA) the United Na t i ons Econoeic Co. .ia.ion for Af r i c a (ECA) ha. organized a work.hop on strategi •• for accelerating the i.provement of civil
re qi.tration and vital .tatiatica in Af r i c a . It ia one aaong III wor ld -w i d e .arias whi ch ha v e also taken place in BUflno. Airea, OamaBcuB and Beiji ng in accordance wi th a 19 91 recomMendation of t he Uni t e d Ha t i o n. stat i.tical commiasion .
Layaahi Yakar , Unitlfd Hations Under~Secretary-General and Executiv. secretary of the Unitlfd Nations EconoMic co_i •• ion for Af r i c a, aaid in an opening stat. . .nt that Af r i c a n countrie. have adopted legi.lation •• tabli.hing coepulsory and continuoua raqiatration of vital evanta, but that a workinq group that . .t in Addie Ababa in 1985 repertlM! that only lieited progrea. hae baen _de. Th. proqr . - of action which i t aubsequently adopted .pacified not only the g.neral outlin.s ot a new atrategy, but also propoalM! _ . u r e . to d.velop and isprov. the org.nization. and .daini.tration ot the Civil Regietration Sy.tea, with particular
••ph.ei_ on rural ar•••.
H. did not., howev.r, that .a.a .ttorttl have baan _de .pecially in the extension of baeic intra.trlX:ture .lICh ae the
••ublialmant of a St_ring ca.aitt_, training .nd the consolidation ot regi.tration d~ntation a. _11 a • . .thodoloqi •• and cov.rage in li.ited ar•••.
-Unfortunat.ly, financi.l, technical and aMinistrative probl._ have constrained theae efforts-, he aaid.
Por _ t Af r i can countri •• , tha Executiva secratary observed, .eriold deficiencies in civil raqiatration and vital .taU.tic.
will exi.t thus reducing their utility.
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These serve two broad services. They are official documentary proof, essential for individual ad~inistrative and judicial purposes. More broadly, registration records provide II. continuous source of information for policy formulation areas of socio- economic concern. Population projection based on vital statistics, tor instance, are crucial for determining need in terms of housing.
schools, teachers, and labour to mention just II. few.
But it is 1n the area of pUblic health that vital statistics come to their own. Mortality statistics, including data on causes of death, are particularly useful in intensifying the main diseasss that threaten public health, Ilnd the charactel"istics of their victims. Vital statistics Ilce indispensable tools for planning, administration and evaluation of various programmes such as family planning and health care.
The United Nations has consistently related civil registration and vital statistics to economic and social development aa well as to administration while the Human Rights Covenants thelllSelves recoqni:l:e civil registration as an essential process in establishing some human rights.
The UNECA Chief emphasised that, within an international proqraame for accelerating the improvement of vital statistics and civil registration systelrlls, the strengthening of national capabilities in the statistical field is of great importance to his organization and this, he said, was in line with the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s and with the strategy for its implementation.
A nUlllber of country reports on the current status of vital statistics and civil registration systems are to be stUdied by the workshop. One of its major tasks is to discuss national strategies on the basis of the assessments undertaken by individual countries in order to formulate a plan of action.
Lll.yashi Yaker, in a printed reference to Africa, 5aid in concluding his statement that the responsibility for building and strengthening their statistical capacities and infrastructure rested squarely on African shOUlders •
