Zambia steps up civil registration

Kampyongo

Government says it has made tremendous strides in promoting the optimal use of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has said.

And Kampyongo says the commendable steps taken have led to Zambia being picked as host for the Fifth Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration to be held next year.

Kampyongo said the country is prioritizing civil registration and vital statistics so as to materialize the new paradigm of a rapid, inclusive and resilient development nationwide.

He emphasized the need to entrench statistics-gathering and processing within the health system nationwide as key to solving the problem of unregistered births and deaths.

The Minister said this in Paris, France when he was transiting to Nouakchott, Mauritania for the Fourth Conference of Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration being held in that country under the theme ‘Accelerating a coordinated improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) for implementation and monitoring development in Africa: Review of progress and the way forward’

“The conference is very important to Zambia as it is an opportunity for a new path which will bring the nation to an inimitable identification system where we can get all the information on an individual,” Kampyongo said.

The Minister has since commended the Zambian Mission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Ambassador Susan Sikaneta for the great efforts being made in ensuring that Zambia with its impeccable record is recognized in the way its implementing its programmes with regard to Civil Registration.

The overall objective of the conference is to deliberate on the possible ways of making strategic shifts to move the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS), to the next level of maturity through taking stock of the achievements and challenges.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is expected to officially hand over the symbolic calabash on CRVS to Zambia during the Forth Conference of Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration.