Since the start of the CRVS Decade, a 2014 shared commitment by governments across Asia and the Pacific to strengthen civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems, remarkable progress has been made toward counting everyone. The number of unregistered children under the age of 5 dropped by a stunning 62%, from 135 million in 2012 to 51 million in 2024. The simple, yet profound, administrative act of registering a birth creates a person’s legal identity in most countries, unlocking access to rights, services and protections. CRVS—the universal and compulsory recording of births, deaths and causes of death in a population—is often overlooked, but it is the invisible backbone of global public health.
Despite this significant progress, every year an estimated 14 million babies remain unregistered by their first birthday. An estimated 6.9 million deaths each year are still unregistered, leaving decision-makers with major questions on what health concerns are posing the greatest risks—and to whom. At this year’s Third Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific, governments vowed to keep pushing so that by 2030, every single birth and death in the region is counted. Read the full report on the CRVS Decade here.
From June 24 to June 26, 2025, over 50 governments and NGOs convened at the United Nations in Bangkok, Thailand to plot a path forward to counting everyone with equity-focused CRVS systems. Vital Strategies co-organized the event and hosted six well-attended events ranging from workshops and training to panels and roundtables. Read on for highlights.
- We facilitated a discussion on the critical role CRVS can play in building trusted identity systems during a high-level sectoral forum on civil registration. We co-hosted the forum with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Asian Development Bank and World Bank.
- In collaboration with UNDP, our team co-led an event assessing the successes and challenges in the digital transformation of CRVS in Southern Asia, with a spotlight on Cambodia, Sri Lanka and India, as well as insights from Rwanda.
- We reinforced the link between universal registration and the human right of legal identity for all at a co-hosted reception to promote UNHCR’s Ending Statelessness campaign.
- Our CRVS team Managing Director Claudia Wells moderated a high-level ministerial roundtable on CRVS financing, where ministers from Bangladesh, the Maldives, Niue, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste shared strategies for country-led sustainable investment.
Across events, our team highlighted the successes of the government-led, digital CRVS transformations of countries in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative. And as more countries progress in their digital transformation, we promoted the importance of integrating CRVS with digital public infrastructure (DPI). DPI refers to the set of digital systems that enable governments to safely and efficiently provide economic opportunity and deliver social services to their people. When DPI isn’t linked with CRVS systems, data can be at risk and people left behind. This year’s convening offered an excellent opportunity to emphasize the integration of CRVS and DPI and to discuss the potential for improving service delivery and safeguarding human rights.
Our Data Impact team held two trainings, each designed to improve the capacity and understanding of key stakeholders in the use of data. At the Data-Centered Leadership Master Class, CRVS managers engaged in lively discussion and inter-country collaboration, sharpening their leadership skills and placing data at the forefront of their public health strategies. The journalism training attracted members of the media interested in using data to inform their coverage and seeking a better understanding of CRVS. After completing the training, the journalists had the opportunity to cover the conference itself. Read a selection of their articles here:
- VERA Files: PH Cited As Civil Registration Model by UN
- One News Philippines: Youth Ask Governments To Respect Children’s Rights to Legal Identity
- Pacific Island Times: Pacific Island Countries Celebrate Civil Registration Achievements
- The Phnom Penh Post: Cambodia, Governments in Regions Commit to Registering All Births, Deaths by 2030
- The Hindu: In Bangkok, a Commitment From Asia Pacific Nations To Count Every Single Birth and Death
- Papua New Guinea Post-Courier: More Effort To Realise Civil Registration, Vital Statistics
The conference concluded with a landmark commitment by governments to affirm the work of the first CRVS Decade, extending the shared effort to 2030 to count every birth and death in Asia and the Pacific. Read the three official statements submitted by Vital Strategies here.
Our Vital team left the Third Ministerial Conference feeling inspired by our partners and motivated to continue working toward a future where all CRVS systems are inclusive, resilient and digital—and where everyone is counted. Want a 50-second refresher of all we accomplished? Watch our recap reel.