CRVS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA LUCAS APINGWA MANAGER

CRVS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA LUCAS APINGWA MANAGER OPERATIONS PAPUA NEW GUINEA CIVIL & IDENTITY REGISTRY SELECTED NATIONAL CRVS FOCAL POINTS 12 – 14 DECEMBER, 2017 ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA/PACIFIC (ESCAP) REGIONAL CONFERENCE BANGKOK, THAILAND

1. BACK GROUND INFORMATION 1. Statutory Authority: PNG Civil & Identity Registry 2. Governing Law – Civil Registration Act (Amended) 2014 3. Mandatory/Statutory functions is to Register: Ø Births & NID & Adoption Ø Deaths (Natural Death, DOA, Missing person) Ø Marriages (Civil & Customary) Ø Divorce

4. Certificate of Birth (Co. B) & NID Card: Identity Verification Tools to access education, banking, Incorporated land group registration, job employment, travel and etc… 4. Co. B : 0 -17 years –verified by parents 5. NID card: 18 years & above 6: Birth Entry No: Key identity verifier links to NID card, death, marriage, adoption, divorce registrations as well links and connects the child to the parents 7. Particulars on Co. B: a) Child details includes Birth Entry Number b) Mother’s Details c) Fathers Details 8. Registrar-General is the custodian Note: During registration certificates & registers are printed. Certificates = applicant. Register = Official Record kept and archived by PNG CIR. Registrations come with relevant supporting documents( Reliable, accurate & true in every particular)

2. National Statistical Agencies 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. PNG CIR: National Register /National Database (Population Information Management System) National Department of Health (NDo. H): D 4 H, VA, Co. D, ICD 10 – Rides on health institutions (Discussion/meetings in progress for standardised coding between various NSA) National Statistical Office (NSO): Manages & Reports on vital statistics – conducts own surveys including population census Department of National Planning & Monitoring (DNPM): More on policy matters, major user –relies on other agencies such as PNG CIR, NSO & NDo. H PNG Electoral Commission: Conduct elections – Conducts own survey on voter eligibility and residence Department of Provincial & Local Government Affairs(DPLGA): Infrastructure development in provinces and at district levels

3. Governing Laws(Acts) of each NSA in relation to CRVS 1) PNG CIR: CRA, Deaths, Marriages, Adoption, Divorce 2) NDo. H: NHIA 3) NSO : National Statistical Act 4) PNG EC: Voter Registration Act 5) DPLGA : Organic Law on Provincial & Local Level Government 6) DNPM : National Planning Act Note: Duplication of data collection is an issue/result here as shown in slides 2 & 3 thus costing state a lot of money.

4: Issues and Constraints faced by Go. PNG ü Disintegrated, fragmented, uncoordinated & or managed in silos ü Data gap challenges ü Need for effective resource allocation, programme targeting & evidenced-based decision making ü Need for accurate, Timely and readily available statistics/indicators to analyse and track development progress of the country q Huge ocean full of scattered Island of Information by NSA q No centralised information bank to draw statistical information/data for planning purposes q 98% of population was unregistered (Guestimates from both NDo. H through e-HIS & PNG CIR through CIRS)

5: Primary Solution q 2012 : NEC Decision (National Identification System) q 2013: NEC Decision - Legislative Amendment to Civil Registration Act for NID & NID as part of Birth Registration process as additional function of PNG CIR q CRO Institutional Capacity Building: #Decentralisation of registration functions to provinces # Creation of PNG CIR from CRO- Increase manpower capacity & resources to gather for organizational needs & demands q Establish centralised National Database: National Register (Populations Information Management System: Computerised registration system) q Establish Civil & Identity Registration System

6. Goal of Go. PNG 1. Account for all its citizens : Free Registration 2. Legal proof of identity : Free Co. B & Free NID card 3. Vital Statistics : Inter-government agency collaboration and ICT linkages to CIRS for ease of access to (not of but to) information

7: CIRS Process q q q Births Registration = Co. B/Register (At birth) B & NID = Co. B & NID Card (Late registration) NID Card Registration = NID Card (18 years old) Death Registration = Co. D/Register Marriage Registration = Co. M/Register Adoption Registration = Co. B (Amendment to register of birth) or NID Card or both q Divorce Registration – Co. D & Register Note: All registration forms are scanned and saved NID Card is renewed after 10 years and is free. Certificates issued to clients and register kept and archived as official record.

8: Benefits of CIRS 1. 2. 3. 4. Live data management Population information management Statistical summary reporting Information readily available and easily accessible

9: Way forward 1. Review various NSA Acts: Ensure there is harmony amongst various Acts to implement SDS 2. Elevate the CRVS committee to a national level (Ministerial level) and TWG to a subnational level to manage and implement the

10. CRVS Committee & TWG q q q q q PNG Civil & Identity Registry : C&TWG (Chair) National Department of Health : C&TWG (Co-chair) Department of National Planning & Monitoring (C&TWG) National Statistical Office: C&TWG Department of Provincial & Local Level Government Affairs: C&TWG PNG Electoral Commission: C&TWG Department for Community Development & Religion: TWG Constitutional and Law Reform Commission : TWG Other government Departments will also be included as TWG may include: § § § § Department of Lands & Physical Planning Department of Education Office of Immigrations Department of Labour & Industrial Relations Office of the Coroner Department of Personnel Management Department of Prime Minister & NEC

International Development Partners q. Data for Health (D 4 H) Initiative – Bloomberg Philanthropies: TWG q DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Australia) : TWG ( VA, Co. D & ICD 10) q WHO: TWG q UNICEF: C&TWG q UNFPA: TWG

11. Current Registration Rates q Guesstimated at 3% of the population births & deaths. Source: e-HIS & CIRS q No data for marriages, divorce & adoption q Most births and deaths in PNG happen outside of health institutions which makes it difficult or impossible to record the exact number of births and deaths and issue certificates. These births and deaths rarely get notified for registration. Simmilarly to divorce & adoption (Civil & customary adoption) q In PNG same sex marriage is not recognised.

12. Sources of Vital Statistics q NHIS: National Health Information System q NDo. H – NHIS publishes annually : Assessment of Sector Performance Annual Report (SPAR) Review 2012 - 2016. Health institutions: hospitals & health centres are major sources (go to google and type Do. HPNG and search) q Verbal autopsy & ICD 10 is not used in PNG but trainings are being done to pilot in one province – Alotau, Milne Bay Province. q Co. D: Discussion is progressing to differentiate between Fact of Death & Cause of Death to improve death registration. q Discussions and meetings are in progress

13. Implementation Steps q Status of National Improvement Plan ü Sustainable Development of Statistics (SDS) platform to coordinate data collection ü Extend collection agents to the distric, LLG and at ward/village level including churches ü Maintain and extend membership of NCRVSC & TWG ü Mechanism Increase powers & extend functions of National CRVS Committee ü Technical Working Group ü Review of the various NSA Acts ü Inter-government agency linkages/access to the National Data Base ü q National Targets of the RAF ü Discussed in recent workshop in October, 2017 to ensure programmes compliment the timeframe (Rapid Assessment : May, 2014).

12. Current major challenges q Commitment & Dedication by NCRVSC & TWG q Conflicting Legislations by NSA & review of these acts q Maintaining the ongoing Planned Activities such as meetings and etc q Trainings for Verbal Autopsy (VA) & ICD 10 Coding and MCCo. D q PNG CIR to get its organizational structure established and operationalized to effectively and efficiently implement CRVS plans on registrations of BDM and others such as NID, Adoption & Divorce (Note that the Birth Registration form is the product of wider inter-governmental consultation & focus group discussion). q Something I forgot: In PNG registration of NID, Deaths, Marriages, adoption & divorce ride on Birth Registration. These registrations are linked to birth registration by the unique identification number on the Co. B. Naturalsed citizens only apply for NID card.

6. Opportunities for Advancing CRVS Work q National Statistical Agencies (NSA) collaboration & partnership ü SDS – Frame work ü Legislative Review of all the NSA ü PNG CIR & NDo. H embarking on a nation wide registration of BDM q Partnership with International Development Partners ü UNICEF – Children Registration ü D 4 H Initiative – VA & ICD & MCCo. D Trainings, e. NHIS, CRVS ü DFTA – Partnership with D 4 H Initiative ü UNFPA – Population issues for development

THANK YOU ALL