Handbook on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Management, Operation and Maintenance

The present Handbook on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Management, Operation and Maintenance, Rev. 1, has been developed as a companion volume to the Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Rev. 3, published in 2014.a It aims to provide guidance and assistance to national authorities in establishing a holistic system of civil registration, vital statistics and identity management. This is the first revision of the original handbook, which was issued in 1998.

The present Handbook offers background information, specifications and practical examples for the establishment—or, where already in existence, improvement—of civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems. It presents model organizational and legal arrangements, together with descriptions of exemplary processes and protocols that are considered to be the gold standard in this domain. Although a number of national examples are presented in support of successful approaches, the Handbook is not a technical report describing and analysing country practices; rather it elaborates the international standard and describes in detail the resulting operational holistic model. It aims to encourage countries to undertake —long-term self-sustaining programmes designed to strengthen the management and inter-operability of their civil registration, vital statistics and identity systems.

The Handbook covers the entire range of vital events—live births, deaths (including causes of death), fetal deaths, marriages, divorces, annulments, judicial separations, adoptions, legitimations and recognitions—but emphasis is placed on live births,  deaths and fetal deaths, since those have been given first priority in the Principles and Recommendations.