Births, deaths, marriages and other major life events in Tuvalu are set to make greater use of digital systems and data-sharing, supported by the Pacific Community (SPC)’s expertise in this area.
A proposed redesign of how key life changes like births, deaths and marriages are recorded in Tuvalu has been put forward with publication of a new report ‘Tuvalu: Assessment, analysis and redesign of the CRVS system’, advocating both short-term improvements and a long-term shift to an electronic civil registration and vital statistics system.
The report takes a ‘cradle to grave’ look at civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) in the country, referring to the recording of births, adoptions, marriages, name changes, divorces and deaths, and their flow-on use in official statistics for planning at the population level.
The joint effort of SPC’s Statistics for Development Division with national authorities saw collaboration across Tuvalu’s Ministries of Health, Home Affairs and Education, Statistics Department, Attorney General’s office, police force, as well as churches, community and cultural organisations.
The strategy is forged from a series of online and in-country workshops in which all elements of the current system were mapped out, led by Mr Jeff Montgomery, SPC’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Adviser, and Tuvalu resident and consultant, Ms Teresa Lifuka Drecala-Peyster.
SPC’s Statistics for Development Division serves as a Pacific centre of excellence in CRVS, while the analysis and plan have been financially supported by the Global Grants Programme of the Bloomberg Data for Health Programme, administered by Vital Strategies.
An individual, family and national matter
“Civil registration systems establish an individual’s legal identity,” explains Mr Montgomery, who was formerly New Zealand’s Registrar-General before joining SPC as a CRVS advocate in the Pacific.
“Birth certificates serve as official documentation of an individual’s name, age and familial relationships, while death certificates provide a definitive record of death. Both documents are crucial for managing legal and financial affairs by the next of kin.”
Mr Montgomery explains that for the state, recording a life event also presents an opportunity to generate accurate, complete and timely vital statistics—crucial for understanding the health and dynamics of a population, and maintaining a national civil registry or population database.
CRVS systems need to be robust and capable of supplying the necessary information for individual, administrative and statistical use, he says.
“Registering individual births and deaths is essential for understanding a population at a zoomed-out level—to make informed decisions about healthcare provision, the number of schools, everything else in the running of a country. Every nation needs good systems for both of these administrative and statistical goals.”
The SPC-led plan proposes replacing Tuvalu’s paper-based system with an electronic one as its principal recommendation. Implementation of a digital civil registry platform would allow for online birth and death notification, including those in outer islands—in the same way as in Niue’s successful adoption of such a system, and like those used in countries such as New Zealand and Australia.
In time, an electronic system like this would also enable efficient linking of these records with other vital events such as adoption, a name change, marriage or divorce.
From proposals to practice
While the plan outlines a long-term pathway to a digital system, ‘low-hanging fruit’ is also identified, with interim steps such as improved data-sharing and better use of identification numbers suggested.
“The overall aim is to move Tuvalu’s CRVS from manual, paper-based systems to more efficient, digital platforms where data is shared electronically between agencies,” says Mr Montgomery. “This reduces the burden on individual citizens to report and transfer their information.
“While the bulk of the proposed changes require the implementation of an eCRVS system, there are some improvements that do not rely on technology changes and can proceed at any time.
“The CRVS system in Tuvalu is at a critical juncture, with significant opportunities for enhancement and modernisation. By addressing existing challenges and using current world-best technological advancements, Tuvalu can ensure a more robust, efficient and secure system for registering and managing vital events, ultimately strengthening governance and service delivery for its citizens.”
Learn more:
- Read the report
- Learn more about SPC’s work in civil registration and vital statistics
- See Tuvalu country profile
For more information, please contact Ben Campion, Communications Adviser, Pacific Community | [email protected].
Photography: Gitty K. Yee, Wahasi Photography, Tuvalu—[email protected].
