19 Countries Join Forces on Legal Identity

Despite how good development appears in numbers, a lot of people miss out on the benefits. This week’s Regional Steering Group on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) meeting in Bangkok was about making these people count.

From 28 - 30 July 2015, high-level government focal points from 19 countries in the Asia Pacific region met to share their progress and country-level plans, challenges and opportunities, as well as identifying assistance required and potential areas of collaboration.

The 19 countries committed to this process included: Indonesia, Australia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cook Island, Fiji, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Vanuatu, and the United States.

All countries participating in the Regional Steering Group showed a strong political commitment to achieve the following objectives by the year of 2024:
1.    Universal civil registration: “Universal civil registration of births, deaths, and other vital events”
2.    Legal identity for all: “All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths, and other vital events, as necessary, in order to claim identity, civil status, and ensuing rights”
3.    Accurate, complete, and timely vital statistics: “Accurate, complete, and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death), based on registration records, are produced and disseminated”

This is the first meeting of the Asia Pacific' s Steering Committee Group on CRVS after the aforementioned goals were set in the Regional Action Framework on the Asia-Pacific CRVS Decade  in November 2014.

In her presentation, the Government of Indonesia’s CRVS focal point, Ibu Suharti, Director for Population, Women Empowerment, and Child Protection from the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) highlighted the good practices of government-civil society partnerships. These partnerships have supported research, policy development, and piloting service delivery models that tackle the barriers to legal identity in the country. Suharti also highlighted the CRVS intersectoral coordination mechanism established in Indonesia that brings together major legal identity agencies, such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the Supreme Court of Indonesia.

“Indonesia intends to optimize the current global and regional momentum to boost the improvement of our CRVS system, as well as provide legal identity documents to all, regardless of their socioeconomic status,” Suharti said. “Support from our national non-government partners and development programs like AIPJ, UNICEF, and WHO has been instrumental in advocating the importance of CRVS and showing evidence on the impact on individuals when they are left without legal identity documents. We have also trialed different approaches and models for addressing barriers,” she said. Surarti also emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing amongst the participating countries to further the achievement of CRVS and legal identity goals. This is one of the key areas where support from development partners is most beneficial.

The meeting in Bangkok resonates the excitement around the globe approaching the upcoming declaration of the Sustainable Development Goals. Within these goals, legal identity has been identified as fundamental in making sure that development is people-centered and leaves no one behind. “We are resolute in supporting and committed to achieving these CRVS goals, especially because it serves as the backbone to the post 2015 agenda” added Mr Agustaviano Sofjan, the First Secretary of the Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand.

“Current initiatives, including AIPJ’s Legal Identity Program, has instigated strong entry points, but more work needs to be done for systemic improvement to happen. Long-term collaborations and technical assistances are now required more than ever,” reiterated Suharti.


Related links:

Press Release (English)

Press Release (Bahasa Indonesia)