The Principal Secretary represents Honourable Minister for Home Affairs Her Royal Highness Princess Lindiwe in the fifth conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Lusaka, Zambia from 14th to 18th October 2019.
The conference will have two segments: Expert Meeting (14-16 October 2019) and Ministerial Meeting (17-18 October 2019). There will be a three day Expert Group Meeting (EGM) proceeding the conference from 14th to 16th October 2019 that will engage in technical deliberations leading to the preparations of draft declaration, recommendations and other technical materials to be presented to the Ministerial meeting. The fifth Ministerial Conference will be held under the theme “Innovative Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System: Foundation for Legal Identity Management”. This theme is timely for all African countries because all African countries are striving to achieve the aspirations of sustainable development goal target 16.9 which seeks to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration by 2030.
The main objectives of the conference are to:
- · Identify key challenges in the implementation of the Africa Programme for Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics at regional and national levels.
- · Reaffirm the commitment of governments and development partners to CRVS and identity management through a holistic approach that strengthens institutional mechanisms for accelerated improvement of civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems on the continent;
- · To review and share best practices from African countries on CRVS and identity management system digitization processes, using appropriate information technology infrastructure and improving innovative business processes, to ensure that universal CRVS systems are interoperable with national identity management and various government functions.
The conference is supported by African CRVS Core Group and is being organized by the African Union Commission in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Government of the Zambia. The Conference is also supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health Organization (WHO), Plan International, the Africa Symposium on Statistical Development (ASSD) and other partners.
The conference, in addition to convening all African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration will also invite Ministers from Health, ICT and Ministers responsible for E-Governance, will also be attended by Heads of Civil Registration Offices, and Heads of National Statistics Offices, representatives from UN agencies, and representatives of non-governmental organisations.
Mr Nhlanhla Nxumalo is accompanied by National Civil Registrar Nomphumelelo Sibeko and Regional Civil Registrar Andile Dlamini.
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