Impact of COVID-19
United Nations launched the UN Legal Identity Agenda in June 2019 and it was officially endorsed in March 2020. It builds on the existing international methodological framework on civil registration and vital statistics and consists of a holistic approach to civil registration, vital statistics and identity management. The UN Legal Identity Task Force, co-chaired by the UN Statistics Division/DESA, UNDP and UNICEF, and with UNECA and UNESCAP spearheading the implementation of UN LIA in their respective regions, is launching a short survey in order to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of civil registration worldwide, provide an information regarding national solutions and a forum for exchange of experiences.
- Is civil registration considered an essential service in your country? Namely, in a number of countries affected by COVID-19 pandemic only the employees of essential services are required to report for duty, while non-essential services' employees are requested to stay at home in order to minimize the spreading of the virus.
- What are the impacts of COVID-19 on the registration of vital events and the functionality of the civil registration authority, in general?
- What are the working arrangements being implemented or planned to be implemented during the current or possible upcoming COVID-19 containment period to ensure continuity?
- How is your office addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the registration of vital events? What are the recommendations to the civil registration offices to ensure that all births, deaths, marriages and other vital events are registered during this time?
Based on the replies from the countries, recommendations for civil registration authorities are issued by the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda Task Force with the support of, and contributions by, UNECA, UNESCAP and SPC, to ensure operational continuity during COVID-19 and allow for the continued production of comprehensive vital statistics.
UNLIA Guidelines-COVID-19
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is a working document and will be updated as needed. If you have any suggestions, please contact us via e-mail at un.lia@undp.org .The information provided by civil registrars from respective countries is presented below. This website will be updated daily as replies and updates from civil registrars are received and processed.
Last update: 13 August 2020
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| Angola | For Angola the Executive has established the Civil Registry as an essential service for Death Registration, Opening of urns. Civil Registration Services have been suspended for a period of 15 days by virtue of the State of Emergency decree on 27 March, extendable for an equal period of time. Only death registration is functional. There minimum services are in place. Currently awaiting new instructions from executive on additional services like birth registration. Registry and Notary Services are functional at National level. The business processes have been reviewed for uniform and immediate compliance. Marriage registration was suspended however, for those who had registered a minimum of 6 people is allowed during the marriage ceremony. All other vital events such as: Births, Divorces remain suspended. |
22 April 2020 |
| Benin | Yes. Civil registration is an essential service in our Benin. This COVID-19 pandemic came at a time when the many reforms in this sector have begun to bear tangible fruit. The registry staff are now working on rotation basis to provide the service. Due to government measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing and stopping mass regrouping of populations; the exercise of mass distribution of birth certificates issued by RAVIP (Census for the Identification of Persons) was stopped, there has been little social mobilization of the population around the withdrawal of these certificates. Declarations of births and deaths has significantly reduced. In order to ensure continuity of work, the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, who is primarily responsible for civil status records in Benin, has issued a memorandum ordering those in charge of his department to draw up a staff rotation plan, notwithstanding the fact that hand washing must be carried out at all times and that all citizens in the health system comprising twelve (12) communes are required to wear a nasal mask. As the COVID-19 pandemic has taken everyone by surprise, an in-depth reflection is underway to ensure that vital events are not overly affected. However, we are in permanent discussion with our colleagues in the sub-region for a pooling and synergy of innovative actions. |
22 April 2020 |
| Burkina Faso | Yes Civil Registration an essential service for the population. Burkina Faso does not currently have total containment in the context of the fight against COVID,19 hence the continuous operation of State services with a system of rotation of officials in order to comply with removal measures. The measures of curfews, quarantine of affected localities, prohibition of demonstrations and limitation of the number of people for events have a negative impact on the supply and demand of civil registration services. The registration of births, marriages and deaths is slowing down not only because of restrictions on population movements, but also because of the reduction in the number of civil registrars through a rotation system. Although the services are continuous, the intensity of work within the civil registration services and the number of users have decreased considerably. There is partial containment in Burkina Faso. As a result, the civil registry services operate continuously, with a system of staff rotation that allows the principle of separation within the services to be respected, and barrier measures to protect civil registrars . At the user level, systematic hand washing is recommended before accessing services to reduce the risk of contamination. In order to ensure the continuity of marriage registration, some registrars have opted for four (04) celebrations, i.e. the registrar receives only the future spouses and their witnesses, while respecting barrier measures. In order to minimize the impact of COVID-19, instructions have been given to the decentralized authorities to take barrier measures to ensure minimum service to the civil registration services through a system of rotation of excess staff in the offices. The recommendations to civil registrars and other staff relate mainly to the observance of appropriate hygiene measures, as mentioned above. Given that there is no total containment, it is recommended that the minimum service for the registration of births, marriages and deaths should be ensured in order to respect the principle of continuity and permanence of civil registry services. To this end, emphasis is placed on public awareness campaigns using posters and town criers. |
22 April 2020 |
| Cabo Verde | yes, the registration services are considered to be essential services, according to the presidential decree that decreed the state of emergency-Decree Law No. 36/2020 of 28 March. Birth and death registration continue to be made normally Civil registry staff provide service, on a rotating basis, the services operate from 9 am to 3 pm. The Conservatives run on telework The services operate in two ways, teleworking and face-to-face, for a period from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
22 April 2020 |
| Cameroon | Yes, civil registration is an essential service in Cameroon. Within the framework of the fight against the CIVID 19 pandemic, no restrictive measures for State personnel in general and civil status personnel in particular. Restrictions have been issued by the government to the entire population in order to stop the spread of the virus. For the impacts of Covid 19 on CR activities has led to;-a decline in the number of visits to the civil registration centers and consequently the decrease in the number of declarations of vital events to the civil registration centers;-the slowing down of the activities of the civil registration centres and the National Civil Registration Office, a public administrative institution responsible for supervising, regulating, monitoring and evaluating the national civil registration system;-the suspension of the activities of some of BUNEC's technical, financial and humanitarian partners (GIZ, European Union...) ;-the drastic drop in State revenue with the risk of an impact on the financing of civil registration. At the level of the National Civil Registration Office, the following working modalities have been put in place :-Continuity and permanence of service are ensured by senior civil servants ;-the alternation of the rest of the staff in the service in order to respect the measure of social distancing within the offices ; In addition, particular attention is paid to compliance with hygiene measures and all barrier gestures decreed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government in the context of the fight against Covid 19, particularly with regard to :-the implementation of videoconferencing;-the promotion of telecommuting ;-the systematic wearing of masks by personnel;-the provision of sanitizers at the entrance to the headquarters building and in all offices;-the placement of pregnant women on leave. As part of the management of the impact of the COvid19 pandemic on the recording of vital events, BUNEC is considering : -the organization of an awareness campaign for civil registrars and secretaries on the need for continuity of the civil registration service in the event of a COVID19 pandemic; the supply of hygiene kits to each civil registry centre;-the development of a national strategy for the continuity of civil registration in the event of a COVID pandemic19 |
22 April 2020 |
| Comoros | Yes, civil registration is considered an essential service in our country. There are currently no covid-19 cases in Comoros, thanks to the measures put in place by the government to stop the spread of the virus. The covid-19 has no impact not only on civil registration but also in our country in general. The country is not yet in confinement, but possible future measures are being put in place by the State: ensuring that all civil registration offices are staffed on a rotating basis, complying with the instructions given by doctors and others. As usual, we are complying with the Civil registration Act. |
22 April 2020 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Yes, civil registration is still considered an essential service in Côte d'Ivoire. Civil registration services are open and functioning despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Although some services in communes and sub-prefectures have been closed due to the pandemic, civil registration services remain open in Côte d'Ivoire, particularly for registering births and deaths. Marriages also take place with very limited family presence (Marriage of 4 persons with both spouses, their witnesses and a few authorised guests. For some example, the case of the commune of Attécoubé, Cocody in Abidjan; Sub-prefecture of Annépé in the interior of the country (Department of Adzopé). By definition, provisions relating to teamwork with the double-shift system and teleworking have been introduced. In general, gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited and a distance of one metre (1 m) between people is also imposed.
In Côte d'Ivoire, teamwork with the double-shift system and teleworking have been introduced in order to reduce human contact. At the local level, pending reports from civil registrars on the current situation, it is noted that the reduced mobility of the population due to fear of contamination and compliance with the provisions in force has slowed down the use of civil registration services and will have an impact on civil registration activities. At the central level-the authority in charge of civil registration is confined to Abidjan and has contacts with actors in the field only by telephone;-activities with TFPs in favour of civil registration are on hold;-mass meetings are prohibited;-several meetings planned as part of modernisation activities are postponed;-the health emergency imposed by the pandemic affects civil registration In Côte d'Ivoire, shift work with the double-shift system and teleworking have been introduced. At the civil registration offices: hand washing devices at the entrances and exits of the services, wearing of protective masks, use of hydro-alcoholic disinfectant gel have been provided and enforcing compliance of social distancing between clients and between clients and civil registration staff. In the future, electronic reporting is being planned to minimize contact and travel. To address the impact of the pandemic, the following actions are planned:-A report by civil registrars on the situation with proposals;-Organization of a meeting at the central level with the main national stakeholders to examine the reports, the situation and decide on the actions to be taken;-For the time being, the main recommendation is to maintain work with the double-shift system and teleworking at the level of sub-prefectures and communes with respect to the barrier measures decided by the government. At the local level, the civil registry services provide information to the population on the continuity of the civil registry service. |
22 April 2020 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Civil registration is essential to meet the needs of the population who report to offices. During this critical period, it was decided to retain in each civil registration's office an officer (the assistant) responsible for receiving and transcribing declarations (registration) in the register and the registrar responsible for signing and issuing civil status documents to declarants. At the central (national) level, the Director-Chief of the Population Department centralizes the data with the assistance of the CRVS focal point. The other agents are placed on technical leave pending the end of the pandemic. The impact of COVID- 19 on CR is: Some registrars'office are closed due to containment (inaccessibility); decrease in attendance and registration caused by fear of contamination; communication difficulties to raise awareness and reassure the population about the continuity or permanence of the service; there are difficulties in the exchange and transmission of data between the central level and the provinces, there is no demand for Civil Registration services. Organization of a minimum service limited to two persons (civil registration officer+ agent (attendant)) per registration office but only in places where the offices are functional; Establishment of a communication system to remind the population that the civil registration service continues to operate; Trucks or vehicles of the mobile offices are currently working on obtaining special authorization to ensure coverage and continuity by going to the communes (civil registration offices) to register the vital events that the confined population cannot declare to the said offices however, one of the trucks are short of spare parts. The strategy of mobile services to the population to record all civil status events, the use of mobile office trucks to cover all the offices and the accessibility of the population; Take a special measure (a moratorium) to catch up on all events that have occurred in order to avoid exceeding the legal deadline and delays in registration; Carry out awareness and catch up campaigns for all events whose deadline has expired, computerize the civil registration system and via the Internet to allow business transaction in such circumstances. |
22 April 2020 |
| Djibouti | Yes, civil registration is considered an essential service. The law mandates complusory registration of vital events although in some remote areas there are difficulties in recording these vital events. Registration will resume once the containment measures have been lifted. Currently 3 communes of Djibouti are connected to the server installed at the Djibouti Town Hall and civil registrars can pre-register the declaration, in other regions there is no adequate infrastructure. Hospitals or health structures such as the reference center "Dar el Hanan" are open and civil servants register each birth in the system, which will facilitate the tasks after the confinement. The delivery of civil status certificates are currently closed. Country currently under confinement. The Civil Registry is working with the National Agency of the State Information System (ANSIE) to set up an online system where every user will be able to consult or prepare the pre-request for civil registration services on the online platform. |
22 April 2020 |
| Eswatini (frm: Swaziland) | Civil Registration is not considered essential services in that it is not listed amongst the essential services. But the Ministry does consider it as essential service, the Service Center are operational registering only current Births and Deaths only all the other services have been suspended. The impacts of COVID-19 are really negetive to delivering of the Civil Registration mandate and all the activities planned have come to a stop. Although there is minimal services delivered there are some vital events that will fall through the cracks and getting them is not assured. There will be a lot of backlock and strain on the officers. The arrangements that have been planned and implemented is the continuing with the registration of current vital events Births and Deaths of course with minimal staff All the Service centers are operational for the registration of current events-only Births and deaths. Marriage registration has been put onhold during the time of the pandemic. |
22 April 2020 |
| Gambia, The | Service is scaled down, non essential staff are asked to stay at home. Public transport is difficullt to operate as number of passengers allowed are reduce to half per vehicle capacity. Some civil registrations officers now are assigned to focus on covid19. Mass gatherings have been restricted. Registration is barely done, as the public hardly come to the registration centres. Public is asked to do social distancing, National Identity and passport offices closed. Schools and universities closed. Demand on civil registrations especially births reduced. Service areas are still opened. There is a plan for community registration campaigns, targetting some rural communities, hard to reach areas, Madarasas ( local islamic schools), ECD centres and local Administrative Regions with low coverage. The Implemenation of plan is to be supported by both UNICEF and WHO. The registry is advising stakeholders to register civic events especially deaths. As some service areas are scaled down or short down like judiciary, marriages could be registered afterward. |
22 April 2020 |
| Ghana | Civil registration is considered an essentital services in Ghana as it is compulsory for every birth and every death to be reported for registration and certification as soon as it occurs. For birth a period of 12 month is required and for death within fourteen(14) day of occureance. as these events are daily occurance the CRVS office are open but restricted to critical staff who have special permission from the Head of the Civil Service through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, in the light of the COVID-19, two main region were locked down, Greater Accra, and Ashanti regions this affected operation even in regions that were not locked down as at the time this report is being complied. CRVS office were officers may not be present at all times have their contact details pasted at the entrace of the offices so they can be contacted when the need arise within their respective area of operations. At Headoffice(administrative) only a few critical staff have been permistted to be at post(the Registrar of births and deaths, 4 ICT officers, three Accounts officer, 2 Statistics officers, 2 administrative officers and 1 Storekeeper) for now. these may improve as we see improvement in the number of affected persons with COVID-19. COVID-19 has affected the coverage level of registration of births and deaths as the public (due to fear and panic) may not report events for registration unless maybe it is required for an essential service. Some of the CR Offices are not fully operational especialy at the community level and in some hospitals and clinics due to restriction on movement and keeping of social distance. Special permission have been given to critical staff to be a post( district and regional levels includind the head office). There is at least one registration staff is at every CR post in every district and 5 at the regional level, for continuous, permanent registration of births and deaths, contact detail of registration operatives are displayed at the entrace of their respective office, at the national level, the Registrar of Births and Deaths and a few suporting staff are always available. |
22 April 2020 |
| Guinea-Bissau | Civil Registration is not considered essential. The impact is very negative since the recording of vital events is practically stopped. A state of emergency is decreed and officials are required. |
22 April 2020 |
| Kenya | Yes. CR Employees report to work from Monday to Friday COVID-19 has affected registration of vital events. CRS in Kenya registers vital events of birth and deaths that occur in health facility and in the community (home). The events occuring at the health facility are registered by the health oficers while those occuring at home are registered by the Assistant Chiefs. In this time of the pandemic, some of the events occuring at home may go unregistered because of the fear of the infection. Also the registration assistants (Health Officers/ Assistant Chiefs) may fail to timely submit the returns hecnce affecting the registration process The following measures have been put down to ensure continuity a) Scaling down the services so that we have only those emergency cases in terms of application of certifcates; b)Working in shifts so that we have few officers in the office c)Provision of protective gears like masks and sanitizers to the officers; d) Some officers working from home where we are utilising social media platforms like email, twitter and facebaook to respond to customer needs; e) liasing with registration assistants to ensure steady supply of registration materials for registration of current events. To ensure tha all events are registred the department of CRS has embarked on the following measures; a)Ensuring that all registration assistants submit monthly returns by the 5th day of every month; b)Utilising the Nyumba Kumi initiative where the neighbors ensure that every event at home is registered; c)Utilising the Community Health Workers (CHWs) to ensure that all the events of birth and death occuring in the community are registered; d)Liasing with the Government Administration Officers (NGAO) for the supervision of the Assistant Chiefs to ensure vital events are registered and timely submission of returns to the Civil Registration Office in their Sub Counties; e) Liasing wiht the Ministry of Health( MOH) to enure that vital events occuring at the health facility are registered. |
22 April 2020 |
| Lesotho | Lesotho considers Civil Registration as an essential Service, however due to lack of PPE and other consumables to protect staff and enable compliance with WHO requirements on mitigating the spread of the virus, Ministry of Home Affairs adopted a Policy to register current Deaths. Registration of vital events has been highly affected. The enforcement of Lockdown measures including the stay at home requirement to minimize the spread of the virus led the Ministry of Home Affairs to conclude and adopted a Policy that only deaths that occur during this time should be registered to enable the families to bury their deceased and claim from their respective insurances. This in turn has a major impact on civil registration as other vital events are not registered as and when they occur. This will in turn severely affect the completeness of the VS and therefore render the VS not much useful in the fight against COVID-19. Death registration has been identified as an event that will be registered during the Lockdown and or containment period. Other Events are registered after assessment has been made by the Section Head or Supervisor that indeed are needed urgently. The staff have been reduced to prevent congestion and shift system has been employed. All the plans made are in line with the State of Emergency Regulations enacted in the Government Gazzette. Only deaths that occur are registered. Robust registration activities will be undertaken after the Lockdown to register all events. |
22 April 2020 |
| Madagascar | Yes, all civil registration centres are open even in localities where population control measures are in force. At present, the number of proven cases of contamination is relatively low. There are no deaths due to this pandemic yet. Furthermore, as containment is still partial (applied in three of Madagascar's 22 regions), civil registration centres are functioning normally. So far, no exceptional measures have been taken with regard to the organization of work at the level of the civil registration centres, as containment measures are still partial and these services are part of the essential services at their level. However, general measures concerning the protection of personnel in direct contact with users have been taken by the Government, including the provision and wearing of masks, the use of hydro-alcoholic gels and the application of social distancing devices of at least one metre. The application of the latter is stricter in localities where there are significant cases of contamination. In accordance with the decisions taken by the Government, an instruction from the Minister of the Interior and Decentralization has been issued to territorial officials. This was to ensure the compliance with the health measures prescribed as part of the fight against the pandemic and to ensure the proper functioning of civil registration services even during periods of confinement by stressing the importance of registering births and deaths. |
22 April 2020 |
| Malawi | Civil Registration is not considered as an essential service in the country. At this stage in Malawi Civil Servants are not being asked to stay at home but rather work in shifts to minimise congestion and the National Registration Bureau is also doing the same. NRB staff are working in shifts meaning records are not being processed as normal. This will eventually create backlog in the system. Again staff working in health facilities are afraid to perfom their duties as usual since they are afraid of contracting the virus. The chances are high that if proper measures are not put in place they may start absconding from work. The same applies to staff at the District Registration Office who are afraid to interact with clients. Another impact is that other stakeholders that we work with have also slowed down therefore affecting our performance. These include IT service providers and technical experts and donor partners who have either travelled back to their countries or are working from home. We will have a clear picture as time goes. There is a need to come up wih a proper plan including provision of protective gear and sanitisers in order to keep the registration functionality going. Right now what is being implemented is working in shifts in all offices. This will ensure that there is a staff to continue with the registration.Working from home is also being considered especially for those that that do not have to meet clients. This means providing good internet service to officers working from home. . Government guidelines will also play a big role on these decisions. Ideas from different stakeholders are welcome. And the aim is to make sure that registration is not suspended. So far the office is putting in strict preventive measures as guided by experts. These include washing hands regurlary in and around the office, use of hand sanitisers, wearing of masks especially those in the frontline like hospitals and working in shifts of small numbers of staff. All suspicious clients are also being referred to health authorities. |
22 April 2020 |
| Mali | The Malian government has instituted a curfew (9 p.m. to 5 a.m.) and the day operations continue for all administrations (7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. specifically on Fridays). In addition, it has taken social distancing measures and promoted barrier gestures to limit the spread of the virus. The civil registration services of Mali's embassies and consulates abroad depend on the measures taken by the countries in which they are located. Limited impact to date in Mali on the registration of civil status events and the functionality of the civil status authority, given that public administrations operate on a day-to-day basis. Low and very high impact on the registration of civil status events and the functioning of civil status centres in consulates and embassies abroad, in proportion to the measures decreed by the governments of these countries. Current period without confinement: normal operation of services at set times, limitation of groupings of people to 50, implementation of barrier measures (individual and collective hygiene measures, etc.). Teleworking is being planned in the event of total confinement. No measures have yet been defined for civil registration services whose status as essential services has not yet been decreed. The National Directorate of Civil Registration is currently preparing, in collaboration with a number of partners, including UNICEF and PAECSIS (an EU project), a communication strategy aimed at ensuring not only the continuity of the civil registration service in full compliance with the barrier measures, but also the technical and financial means for the success of the operation. |
22 April 2020 |
| Mauritius | Yes CRVS is an essential service. In Mauritius all essential services are operating. Staff of the Civil Status Division are also working on an on call basis to register death declarations. Non-essential services' employees are encouraged to stay at home. Death registration is fully operational. A list of CSO are on call in all districts. All police stations in each district have been provided with contact details of Civil Status Officer who are on call. In cases of death every citizen can contact the Police Station of their locality to vail the services of a Civil Status Officer. No declaration of births are being processed since 20th March 2020. However all births occuring before and during confinement will be attended once same is waived. Such cases of birth declaration will not be affected by the mandatory delay of 45 days to declare a birth. Civil Status Division is working in close collaboration with other Government Services i.e providing death data to Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Security and Mauritius Revenue Authority. A core team of the Mauritius National Identity Card Unit is providing assistance to the Mauritius Revenue Authority and to the public specially those having issues when making online application to the Mauritius Revenue Authority for government financial grants. Civil Status Division is working in close collaboration with other Government Services i.e providing death data to Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Security and Mauritius Revenue Authority. A core team of the Mauritius National Identity Card Unit is providing assistance to the Mauritius Revenue Authority and to the public specially those having issues when making online application to the Mauritius Revenue Authority for government financial grants. |
22 April 2020 |
| Mozambique | Yes. The Civil Registry is considered a priority in Mozambique. At the moment the Civil Registry services are working on employee rotation every 15 days and the minimum services for the population are in place as we are still in phase 3 of emergency. Low turnout, some of the Civil registry offices have been closed. We have some impacts with COVID-19 on the records of vital events such as most marriages have been cancelled, of which only about 10 people can participate. The 120-day periods for free registration have been suspended, the civil registry offices in the health units have been suspended for reasons of prevention of the employees there. At this moment its mandatory hand washing at the entrances of the registry offices and sanitizers are provided, we limit the entrances of the users in the registry office and ensure social distancing. We implement the rotation of the employees fortnightly in reduced groups. We are now responding to the basic services of the population such as birth registration and deaths, following the criteria laid down in the decree of the Council of Ministers, with regard to marriages most of them have been postponed by the proponents and those that have been performed are with a maximum of 10 people. Conservatories open including weekends for registration of death. Birth registrations are being made at normal hours. Marriages cancelled during the state of emergency. A reduced number of users are allowed inside the services. |
22 April 2020 |
| Namibia | Registration of new born babies and death registration, are regarded as critical services as gazetted just before state of emergency was declared, any other civil/vital event are suspended and are not regarded as critical 1. The declared State of Emergency has led to the suspension of most activities except timely birth and death registration. It is likely that, births and deaths taking place outside health facilities are not going to be reported on time, thus affecting the accuracy of birth statistics. 2. Outreach programs to rural, far and hard to reach ares are not being conducted thus leaving out those that depends on outreach activities unattended to. 3.Fear of COVID-19 in general and social distancing being preached discourages people to reach our offices for registration of events which happened outside health facilities 1. Decogesition of offices by reducing the number of staff members responsible for vital events registration. 2.open two counters for timely birth and death registration. 3. Update the Civil registration sytem of all reported registrations electronic birth notifications by nurses in health facilities to continue 1. Supplied protective equipment such as face masks, hand gloves, hand sanitizers to all our offices nation wide. 2. Engage the public via various platforms such as radio, tv and social media to inform them that the registration of new born babies and death registration services are available country wide. 3. Offices where registration for new born babies and death registration are open from 08h00-17h00. 4.Engage and encourage staff members in remote and urban areas to open offices by having daily Zoom virtual meetings on a daily basis. |
22 April 2020 |
| Nigeria | CR is not an essential service. COVID-19 has paralyzed all the CRVS acitivities in Nigeria. The health workers who are considered essential are helping on a skeletal level. CR office is considering enhancing collaboration with the health sector. |
22 April 2020 |
| Rwanda | Yes, in Rwanda, Civil Registration is considered as an essential service whereby the recording of civil events is done at sector level (to make it more affordable and near to the service seekers) by civil registrar. Currently Rwanda records 9 civil events namely birth, marriage, death, acknowledgment of a child born out of wedlock, adoption, guardianship, divorce, legitimization and annulment of marriage. In order to record these events, there is a need of declarant who requests the record of civil events and some witnesses for some events like marriage, etc. Due the outbreak of Covid-19 in Rwanda, whereby citizens are required to stay home, recording of civil events were put on hold, except the delivery of civil events' certificates that are delivered online throught Irembo platform https://irembo.gov.rw/rolportal/web/rol . The notifications of vital events occurring in health facility is continuously done. However, the registration of these events at the Sector office will be done after the containment period. The registration into the National Population Registry has continued, CRO have online access and they can update events using applications received via online portal "Irembo" (https://irembo.gov.rw/rolportal/web/rol) For the application of Vital Certificates, such as a birth certificate, the declarant, while applying for the certificate, uploads the documents in their possession (medical certificate (birth or death notification) for births and deaths events at health facilities or cell certificate for those occurring at home) and the Civil Registration Officer can issue these certificates using the online Portal "Irembo". This process is done entirely online from application to issuance of the certificate and does not require physical contact face to face. Where applicant has no smartphone, there are agents near to assit with application process. The Government of Rwanda issued an initial containment period of 2 weeks from the 21st March 2020. This has been extended for another two weeks until 19th April 2020 and all employees are working from home except for essential services like banks, medical staff and other selling food and beverages. Given the current online platforms available in Rwanda, CROs continue to provide CR related services online.The current arrangements include registration into the National Population Registry of births and deaths declared via Irembo portal; this allows issuance of CR certificates online. This is the case for the registration of births and deaths occuring both in health facilities or in communities. However, the other events are on hold for now, especially marriages which require gatherings. These will resume at the end of the COVID 19-containment period. The online tools for the registration of vital events are continuously monitored to ensure they are available to Civil Registration Officers across the country. We also have emails and other communication tools available to ensure service is provided continuously. The events being registrered in this period of containment are only births and deaths. The major recommendation to CRO's is that amidst the period of fighting against the COVID-19 Pandemic, for those events that can be registered online, registration should continue. The recommendation would be to strengthen delivery of Civil Registration Online. |
22 April 2020 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Yes. The civil registry is considered an essential service. At first it created the situation of fear due to protection, but everything is going normal. The state of emergency was decreed with a limited service time, but did not affect the civil registry. We are responding well, and we continue to record vital events. |
22 April 2020 |
| Senegal | In Senegal, we are not in a situation of total confinement because the administration operates from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The local authorities have also adjusted working hours to ensure continuous service and by reducing staff in some communes. Civil registration can be considered essential because users' requests (declaration and delivery of civil status records) are always handled by the civil status centres.
The civil registration services are still active, and it is the users who do not rush to make the declarations of marriage (spouses have up to 6 months to declare) and birth (the declarant has up to a year to declare). We have not yet noted any disruption in the operation of the civil registration centres as a result of COVID-19. At present, local and regional authorities have adjusted working hours to ensure a continuous service by reducing staff numbers and using teleworking for some of them because gatherings are prohibited. We are following the evolution of the disease in Senegal in order to adapt and to allow the civil registration centres to ensure continuous service. For the time being, it is premature to measure the impact on civil registration. In the event of total containment, a circular could be issued inviting mayors to ensure continuity of service in civil registration centres. At the level of the Directorate of Civil registration, teleworking is used as a means of working to limit staff travel and reduce the risk of transmission of COVID19. |
22 April 2020 |
| Seychelles | Yes. An Essential service There are certain cases where events have to be restricted and daily funtion of service of such offices have dwindled Internal arrangements have been made so that the service is not interupted staff are supposed to report for their respective duties every other two days and deliver as normal the office remains open from 8am to 4pm to serve the public and there is always an Officer available to attend clients. In the event of marriages clients are advised to postpone until further notice .However births and deaths are registered as usual by the responsible Officers who have to wear gloves and mask keeping a distance of a meter between themselves and the clients. |
22 April 2020 |
| Sierra Leone | Civil Registration is considered an essential Service in Sierra Leone because it compulsorily records all vital events particularly Births and Deaths registrations. Although Sierra Leone is yet to strictly implement a policy of non-essential services to stay at home, Government notice of 9th April 2020 directed the Head of the Civil Service, the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) and heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to implement alternate working days for their staff. Registration Offices remain open through out the country though with low turnout for registration as result of the restriction on public gathering. CODVID 19 has had huge impact on the registration of vital events in Sierra Leone. Due to Governemnt's restrictions on travel and other movements, residents have limited access to Civil Registration Centres. For example, the mass confirmation of registrants personal details and new registrations planned for the first quarter of 2020 have been postponed; CRVS Stakeholder/Coordination meetings are affected as most members especially Development Partners are observing alternate working arrangements as well as restrictions on public gatherings. CRVS funding has been affected as donors have re-programmed their resources and support towards COVID 19. In line with the pubic regulations put in place by Government, the National Civil Registration Agency (NCRA) has developed alternate working day arrangemnet for staff, working hours reduced to 7 man/hours per day and/or work from home. To adddress the issue of limited access, NCRA offices remain open through out the country. On coordination, engagement with CRVS Stakeholders continues through emails and other social networks. Government continues to provide minimal support to CRVS, donor support remains unpredictable. In preventing the spread of COVID 19, protective gears (masks, gloves, thermometers) are in use including hand washing with soap and practicing of social distance. All NCRA registration offices are open with adequate materials to continue the registration of vital events. CR data is being used to support contact tracing during COVID 19. |
22 April 2020 |
| Tanzania | Health is an essential service and in 16 regions out of 26 decentralisation of Birth has been done where a child is issued a certificate at the Health Facility. Since Health Facilities are still working and babies are being delivered registration does go on and for those who come for immunization are also given certificates all this is done with precaution. In other regions the notifications are given to children at Health Facilities and their parents can bring it forth for registration this also applies to Death. Marriages they are being officiated by the religious leaders as well as in the district offices as long as they take all the precaustions as stipulated by the Ministry of Health. registration can still be done. Birth and Death is done at the Health Facilities since services are continuing but with caution registration is still on progress although the rate is not so big but the service are still there. However there is a significant decrease of number of people seeking for second copy of births or death certificate or late registation services. Marriges have decreased as the gatherinings have been prohibited this is because in Tanzania the weeding parties involved over 300 people. Registration services are continuning as it is the health personel who are doing it and for community based events the community leaders are continuning with there duties but limiting the number of children to be registred per day to ensure social distance while taking and observing the caution given by the Ministry of Health. Our office has provided seminar to all employees on COVID-19 whereby knowledge on how best we can protect ourselves from the pendemic was given. Also keeping social distance is being advocated by our HR personel, again our office has provided masks, gloves and sanitizers to all employees while on duty. The best way to ensure continuity is that civil registration has to be intergated with other systems such as those at health so that the vital events are registered for continuity and planning purposes. Since at the Health Facilities all these events happen and because services there can not be shutdown hence likelyhood of registration to occur is high. |
22 April 2020 |
| Tunisia | Civil registration is considered an essential service in Tunisia. All Tunisian municipalities have ceased their services, with the exception of cleaning services and civil registration services, which are active. During the period of confinement, civil status events are registered. There is no impact on the recording of civil status events or on the functionality of the civil registration authority. The civil registration services are authorized to operate normally. If a refusal is established, a request is provided for. The services concerned work according to the usual working methods. It is recommended that they comply with the required hygiene and disinfection measures. |
22 April 2020 |
| Uganda | Following the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic to Uganda the Government imposed a 14 day lock down period effective 31st of March 2020. Essential services and employees of these essential services were permitted to continue with their work. The Civil Registration Authority was not among the providers of essential service providers advised to continue. However, among these essential services are the health facilities where approximately 73% of births occur and about 300,000 deaths occur annually. The health facilities play an important role in notifying the Civil Registration Authority of these events. Key IT staff have been maintained to ensure the systems are up and running to ensure that all births and deaths are notified electronically during this time. All Civil Registration offices countrywide were closed. Uganda currently operates an online tool known as Mobile Vital Records System (MVRS) accessed by a significant number of health facilities where these events of birth and death continue to be notified online in real time. For those facilities without the necessary infrastructure manual notification tools were provided. Due to the lock down these cannot be retrieved and the registration process cannot be completed. The Registration Officers have been encouraged to access the notified records online using the MVRS tool and register the events. Due to the closure of offices country wide no certificates of birth and death can be issued at the moment. Scheduled activities such as outreaches to hard to reach areas and underserved communities were in addition halted.The halting of CRVS functions will have an impact on national planning and therefore service delivery as a number of births and deaths during this period may be unregistered. Duty bearers such as the Ministry of Health and Local Government and Staff of the civil registry office have been encouraged to continue online notification and registration of the events of births and deaths. The Civil Registry Office has adopted the use of online meeting tools to continue the coordination of CRVS activities especially between the civil registry office and the Ministry of Health aimed at strengthening Civil Registration. Uganda has only started dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic and is only beginning to deal with effects of pandemic on civil registration. The Civil Registration office is focusing on strengthening online notification and registration of these civil registration events to ensure continuity. Minimum IT staff have been maintained to ensure the systems are up and running to ensure that all births and deaths are notified during this time. In addition harnessing the use of all communication channels such as emails, social media and online meeting avenues to coordinate and monitor performance of CRVS on line activities. Recommendationsi. Enable and expand the use of online tools to notify and register civil registration events to allow for continuity in case of a pandemic like COVID 19.ii. A strengthened collaboration with key stakeholders like the Ministry of Health ensures that the events that occur in health facilities are notified even in the midst of a pandemic.iii. Ensuring the integration of systems with the Ministry of Health for a smooth uninterruptable process of notification. |
22 April 2020 |
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. The CR Authority in Costa Rica delivers a range of services to the citizenry, some of them have been classified as essential services, such as: registration of births and deaths, identity cards and identity cards for minors (issued to identify persons between the ages of 12 and 18). 2. The health measures imposed by the Government as strategy to prevent and combat a mass contagion of COVID-19 among the Costa Rican population have resulted in a sizable reduction of government officials going into work places. Only a 20% of staff are physically in public institutions. This has resulted in longer wait times for the public requiring services. 3. In the CR Authority of Costa Rica, modalities include teleworking or work by objectives, video calls and video conferences, as well as rolling daily shifts of physical presence in the premises, in order to fulfill day to day requirements. 4. In Costa Rica, an online notification system has been implemented for births and deaths, which allows most of these types of notifications to be automatically done from hospitals. It even allows, at the same time of filling the notification form, scheduling registration appointments, which minimizes the risk of no-show and of delays of medical notifications.Notification of marriages is also available online. In regards to judicial services, these are still being delivered through a single entry point (kiosk) where documents are received; queries are tended via the institutional webpage. |
16 April 2020 |
| El Salvador |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. In El Salvador, emergency decrees by the Legislative and Executive Powers classify certain public institutions as essential for combatting and containing the pandemic; these exclude civil registration. However, the Civil Registration and Identity Authority in our country is supporting the identification of eligible persons for government vouchers, as well as coordination with the Health and Security Ministries for epidemiological purposes. This has been done by establishing reduced teams working round the clock 24 hours every day of the week. Staff members of these teams work from their homes, and only a small group of staff members go to the central office in order to issue validity certificates of ID cards. The local offices where certificates are usually issued are closed. 2. In El Salvador, the Civil Registration and Identity Authority is decentralised in 262 municipalities, thus, vital events (births, deaths, marriages, adoptions, divorces) are not being registered within the periods established by Law. The Emergency Decree waives these administrative and legal periods for the duration of the health emergency, though. When the health emergency is lifted, it will be important to specifically regulate this issue. Identity registration (issuing of the Unique ID Card for those over the age of 18) is also suspended for those reaching the age of 18 (legal adulthood) during the health emergency. To date, they do not have an ID card, and while there is neither a mandatory legal period nor penalties for not having an ID card, this document (ID card) is the only one accepted as proof of identity in all private or public situations. Not having their identities registered will thus have a negative impact to these youths.. This closure will also affect those who do have an ID card, but the validity period has expired during the health emergency. This makes it difficult for them to collect salaries, remittances and even the government voucher that is issued to certain population groups. Thus, the Civil Registration and Identity Authority has coordinated actions with the Office of the President of the Republic and the financial system in the country so they accept the validity certificates that we have been issuing from the beginning of the health emergency. For security purposes, these validity certificates bear a bar code in the left bottom corner that has been shared with the Salvadorian Banks Association so they take it as valid. In addition, a national archive with the certification number has also been shared; this is benchmarked during bank transactions. 3. Teleworking for most staff has been in place, and in-person has been necessary only for a reduced number of staff. At the moment, it is envisaged that when the health emergency ends and staff returns 100%, they will be provided with the necessary protection equipment and health measures for social distancing. A plan for providing public with registration services is also being designed, this includes adapting the service physical areas. 4. As mentioned before, in the case of El Salvador the legal registration periods are waived by Decree; thus, no penalty will be generated. However, it is important to find a coordinated mechanism with the Health Ministry in order to know the number of reported births and deaths and be able to follow up by means of the health record. |
22 May 2020 |
| Guatemala |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. Presidential guidelines in case of public calamity and Presidential orders to strictly comply were published and sanctioned in the Journal of Central America. This gave way to the issuance of special instructions at national level for providing public service in terms of persons identity for a period established by the Executive Directorate of the National Population Register, taking the following in to account: The Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and International Treaties recognise the fundamental rights that guarantee inhabitants the realization of the common good. Among these, the right to identification is of utmost importance for people to exercise their recognized rights in the Guatemalan legal framework, both at national and international level. Decree number 90-2005 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala and its reforms, Law on the National Population Register, establish an autonomous entity, of public right with judicial personality, own patrimony and full ability to acquire rights and obligations, as the entity in charge of organising and maintaining the unique identification register of natural persons, regsiter events and acts of their civil status, civil capacity and other identification data from birth to death, as well as the issuance of the Personal Identification Document (card). 2. SERVICES THAT HAVE PRIORITY - Data entry for the issuance of the Personal Identification Document (card) - Hand-out of the Personal Identification Document (card) - Issuance of certificates - Death registration - Registration of other events The Department of Civil Registration, which oversees all registration offices at national level, has made arrangements to guarantee service continuity and, thus, guarantee the right to identity and identification. However, given the arrival of the pandemic, demand for RENAP services has decreased, recording a trend below what had been projected for the year 2020. 3. Online electronic services for issuance of regitration certificates and replacement of Personal Identification Documents (cards) are provided to the population around the clock, 24 hours a day. This allows for people to do these procedures without leaving home. "Homeoffice" arrangements are in place for administrative personnel of the National Population Register, so that they can work from home and only travel to the workplace when they have a shift. This takes into account groups of workers that may belong to vulnerable groups, so that these workers only work from home by means of electronic mail. Starting on 1 April this year, 15 days after the pandemic's beginning in Guatemala, registration offices at national level have been providing service in the following fashion: Registration Office Modalidad de trabajo Office ascribed to the Civil Registrar of the municipality and department (province) of Guatemala, located in zone 1 24 hours service for registration of deaths and stillbirths Central headquarters Shifts system in two work periods; First: from 7:00 to 12:00 noon. Second: from 8:00 to 13:00 hours. Office ascribed to the Civil Registrar of the municipality and department (province) of Guatemala, located in the National Institute of Forensic Sciences -INACIF- 8:00 to 13:00 hours from Monday to Friday. Offices of the Civil Registrar located in the departments' head cities Providing service via shifts system, working hours from 8:00 to 13:00 hours from Monday to Friday Offices of the Civil Registrar located at municipal level On demand and via shifts in coordination with local authorities. 4. Every week, the Central Population Register, through the Department of Civil Registration, issues instructions to registrars on modalities for service provision. These instructions are based on Presidential guidance and on instructions issued by the Executive Directorate. In addition, in order to provide services, the following conditions must be met: - Keeping of safety and hygene measures - Keeping of social distance among co-workers - Avoiding negative impact on persons from vulnerable groups and those that fase transportation difficulties or those with mobility restrictions. - Supplying necessary hygene products for personnel working in local registration offices and central headquarters, as well as gel alcohol for service users. - Installing and enforcing signaling for circulation within the building. 5. The National Population Register has signed Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreements with public institutions such as the Attorney General (prosecution authority), the National Institute of Forensic Sciences -INACIF-; and others, which has allowed the provision of services to them during the pandemic, and is critical for their functioning, according to the legal framework. |
16 July 2020 |
| Mexico |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. On 30 March 2020, the Federation Official Journal published the "Agreement declaring the COVID-19 epidemic as a health emergency due to force majeur", specifying that the Ministry of Health would determine all necessary actions to address the emergency. The Agreement establishes that funerary and burial services as essential activities. Thus, there was a need to strengthen coordination among authorities at the three levels of government that are in charge of issuing health death certificates, registering events and issuing legal death certificates (acts from Civil Registration offices), allocation and cancellation of personal identification numbers (Population register unique key-CURP) and conduction of forensic services. Coordination aimed at achieving an improved management during the health emergency, expediting death registration and issuance of burial and/or cremation permits, given that cost of services, or requisites for death registration, vary depending on the state. The Ministry of Interior is in charge of registering and validating the identity of members of the population in Mexico through the Directorate General of the National Population and Identity Register (RENAPO), as a coordinating, technical and advisory organ of the activities conducted by the Civil Registrars of each of the 32 federated entities (states) that make up the country. All events pertaining to civil status are of exclusive competency of the states. On 17 April, the Health Ministry and the Interior Ministry published in the Federation Official Journal the "Agreement prohibiting incineration of both identified and non-identified bodies that were unclaimed and who had died due to SARS-CoV2 virus (COVID-19), and suggesting measures for the registration of deaths in the context of the health emergency". Such an Agreement can be accessed at the following link: http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5591880&fecha=17/04/2020 According to the above-mentioned Agreement, and in order to address the health emergency, state governments must streamline the procedures necessary to obtain a legal death certificate (act), given that registration is considered as essential function. In addition, the Ministry of Interior, with full respect to state sovereignty, encouraged Governors of the 32 federated entities to designate Civil Registrars as institutions whose functions are essential to address demands from the population related to the health emergency generated by the SARS-CoV2 virus (COVID-19), in terms of registration of deaths and births. 2. A decrease in the timely registration of births is foreseen, derived from the health measures promoting staying at home, as well as from controlled operation of services rendered to the public that is being adopted by Civil Registrars in order to avoid overcrowding and to maximize protection to their personnel. In most of the cases, civil registration offices are operating via shifts in order to register births. However, in some cases registration services were limited to urgent procedures related to health services. It is important to note that this approach is not homogeneous in the entire country, and in some states more or less stringent measures were adopted, according to their health condition. In the case of death registration, an unusual increase in this service demand was foreseen, which entails addressing and solving issues and procedures in an easier and more promptly fashion. Thus, a decrease and/or simplification of requirements was in order, as well as offering the services free of charge. The COVID-19 health emergency has impacted vital events registration, given that birth registration has decreased while death registration has increased. This has generated a number of significant operational challenges, which add to the functional difficulties caused by the reduction in personnel, which was partly sent home due to their risk conditions in order to preserve their health. 3. In order to ensure continuity during the health emergency, it is necessary to guarantee that all civil registration offices run to their maximum capacity. For that, preference is given to technological and digital tools to provide registration services to the public. In addition, the following work modalities are foreseen: - Coordination with other Ministries involved in addressing the emergency situation at federal (national) level, such as the Board of Corpses Management. - Promoting the participation of the Civil Registrars in the local coordination Boards. - Coordination and exchange of good practices among Civil Registrars in the country by means of weekly videoconferences. - Promotion of general measures, such as those contained in the Agreement published by the Federation Official Journal on 17 April. 4. By means the Agreement published on the Federation Official Journal on 17 April, states, municipalities and local authorities are encouraged, as relevant to their competences and as extraordinary actions to address the health emergency, to: I. Request, in order register a COVID death, only the following: a) Medical death certificate issued by the Ministry of Health; b) Copy of the decedent's identification document and/or their unique ID number (CURP); c) Copy of the informants's identification document and/or their unique ID number (CURP), and d) The notification in free format referred to in the third article (Third Article. Under the assumption of an identified or unidentified decedent whose body has not been claimed, whose cause of death is presumed to be COVID-19 and absence of information related to a violent death or another cause of death, forensic authorities must issue a notification in free format certifying that an external examination has been performed on the body (given the circumstances, not a necropsy), that a photograph of the face, individual traits, biometric information (finger prints, genetic simples with due precautions) and other information are available according to the relevant Guidance established by the Ministry of Health. The forensic authorities mentioned in the previous paragraph must report and submit the complete record to relevant authorities depending on the place of occurrence of the death, to the National Comission of Search and to the Local Commission of Search of the relevant state (federative entity), with the aim of centralising this information in the National System of Search for purposes of search and identification.) of this Agreement, in the case of unclaimed bodies, both identified or unidentified. If there are uncertainties about the cause of death, the exception foreseen in this Agreement will not be applied; but registration must be done in the usual and ordinary fashion. II. Expedite the procedures to obtain the legal death certificate (act) and the incineration and burial permits to the shortest delay; III. Consider waiving charges for issuing legal death certificates (acts) and incineration and burial permits, if applicable, and IV. Implement measures of direct coordination with hospitals in order to facilitate registration and necessary paperwork for the final disposition of decedents, and, at the same time, capture immediately the death registrations in the National Data Base of Civil Registrars. In addition, the Ministry of Interior has requested states (federative entities) to: - Implement necessary coordination and operation mechanisms so as to carry out birth registration in all civil registration offices in each state and, if applicable, in the Maternity and Childhood Hospitals, providing this services to all persons who request it, producing for this purposes the necessary communiqués to inform the population that this service is operating with normalcy. Similarly, establish the necessary mechanisms to maintain the allocation of the Population register unique key (CURP) and its respective deactivation at the momento the death occurs. - Guarantee that all civil registration offices have the necessary supplies, human resources, and technological and digital media within their reach in order to provide efficient and immediate death registration services during the current health emergency, complying with the health protection measures established by the Federal Government and with the general framework of personal information protection. Facing the health emergency derived from the SARS CoV2 virus (COVID-19), only the registration of births and deaths has been considered as an essential function, while other registration services are left to the criteria and procedure of each state (federative entity), and by means of technological media. |
9 July 2020 |
| Panama |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. In Panama, the Decree of the Executive Agency, ordered total confinement and did not make a particular mention regarding Civil Registration and Carding Services. These services pertain to the Electoral Tribunal, which is independent of the Executive Power. Thus, the Tribunal issued several decrees in order to regulate its services, for instance, issuing of identity cards, birth and death notification, as well as civil registration certificates has remained operational. This has been achieved via agreements with two supermarket chains, among other business establishments. This answer is elaborated in question 3. 2. In principle, the challenge consists of searching for alternatives within the exisiting legal framework that allow online services to be provided, in order to contribute as best possible to social distancing and to avoid agglomerations of people, thus protecting the public and our staff. In Panama, it is an advantage that the Civil Registration Authority belongs to the Electoral Tribunal, an autonomous agency at the constitutional level. It is managed by three magistrates, who can regulate laws within their subject matter of competence and even put forward bills of law to the National Assembly. An additional challenge will be to obtain the usual financial resources that allow us to provide services to the general public, and more so to vulnerable groups who reside in difficult to reach areas. There has been a significant budget cut due to spending controls ordered by the Executive Power, in order to redeploy resources to those impacted by COVID-19, and to provide financial aid to the population, among other measures. 3.a. The validity of identity cards that were due or becoming due during the confinement period was extended, first until 15 April and later to 15 May 2020, at the moment. If necessary, there will be a third extension until end of June. b. Local offices were ordered to close, issuing of ID cards takes places only twice a week. According to confinement specifications in Panama, where men and women are allowed to leave their homes in different days, services are available for women on Mondays, and for Men on Thursdays, with reduced working hours from 8:00 to 12:00. Relatives are allowed to pick up ID cards via a simple note, given restrictions to leave home, which assign timeslots according to ID numbers. It is worth indicating that the manufacturing of ID cards has kept activities with minimum personnel and working hours from de 8 to 12, same as other departments. When necessary and given high workloads, they have worked from 8 to 4pm every day until they are caught up. c. An online module has been launched, where citizenry can apply for a free rapid ID replacement; this measure will be in place for a year. There is also an online module to verify whether a lost ID card has been found. d. Birth and death notifications are considered valid so that population can utilize them for further paperwork during the confinement period. For this, medical facilities must issue family members a simple copy with a fresh stamp. Death notifications are being utilised for burials. It is worth indicating that the Civil Registration Authority provides medical notification forms to health institutions and morgues, which are used with a three-fold purpose: statistical, birth registration and medical information. In this vein, delivery of these forms has been maintained on demand; this is done in hard copy and monitored in the computer system. e. Issuing of death and birth certificates has been maintained via two supermarket chains in the entire country. This service has been in place for many years already. f. Services of ID verification have been maintained for Banks, financial institutions and government entities. g. Special services have been maintained for the Governmental Innovation Authority (AIG) and some Ministries, in support to their services during the pandemic. These include the "Solidarity Voucher" that utilices the ID number in order to provide monetary aid. Statistical information is also provided. Under implementation: a. We are coordinating with hospitals so that they submit digital birth and death notifications from the first month of confinement. Death notifications will be saved by default, with no need for relatives to report. For births, reporting via Skype, whatsapp or similar platforms is being considered, using an appointment module. Details of this service are being developed in a regulatory decree. b. Coordination is also underway with the Health Ministry, Social Security and Judicial Morgues, to enable secure pick up of medical notifications, and avoid manipulation risks of these documents, both in protection of the public and our staff. Pick up from hospitals in urban areas will be done every 15 days, and in difficult to reach areas this will be done once a month, until usual pick up can be resumed. Usually, there are vital event registration offices in the 14 largest public hospitals, but due to contagion risk, officials could not continue work in public facilities. The 5 private hospitals have continued with registration services, with their own personnel and online. 4. In Panama, more than 90% of births take place in hospitals facilities and regsitration services is available online in the 19 hospitals with the largest maternity departments. It is considered that impact n vital event registration, will take place during the first month of confinement, given that the Civil Registration Authority has not received the medical notifications from hospitals. As soon as this is done, medical notifications will be saved, which will enable registration. Deaths, by law are registered after one month of occurrence in a health facility, even if relatives have not declared the death event. Births are registered by law after 6 months of occurrence if parents have not declared the birth event. In any case, we expect to have an alternative to in-person registration soon. No marriages are being celebrated at these moments.Among recommendations, it is important to make sure that 100% of medical notification forms are received back by the Civil Registration Authority. In the case of Panama, the forms are delivered by computer system and there is a numeric control indicating where they were delivered and used. In addition, cemeteries have been asked to report to the Civil Registration Authority the list of persons that are buried or cremated, in order to cross this information and verify that all events are registered. Another relevant issue is the published figures of deaths due to Covid-19, so that causes of death are correctly identified for statistical purposes.Without a doubt, the most important challenge will be registration of the 10% of births occurring at home. These events are registered normally using the more than 90 district offices of the Electoral Tribunal in the country, by the 207 auxiliary registrars in remote areas. If mobility restrictions are kept, it will be a challenge to find mechanisms to reach those population groups, particularly given budgetary restrictions envisaged for the rest of the year. |
22 May 2020 |
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. Yes. A number of early measures have been implemented in the Argentinian Republic in order to curb the epidemic, among them: the "social, preventative and mandatory isolation". Such a measure was ordered by Decree Nº 297/20, of the National Executive Power so as to protect public health. Firstly, this was established from 20 to 31 March 2020 (Decree Nº 297/20), then it was extended until 12 April 2020 (Decree Nº 325/20) and afterwards it was further extended until 26 April 2020 inclusive (Decree 355/2020). Indeed, conditions on the ground due to the "social, preventative and mandatory isolation" has brought the need to implement essential activities and services in order to mitigate the effects of the adopted measure. Thus, activities and services labeled as essential were exempted from complying with the social isolation order and from the free circulation ban, as long as their mobility was strictly related to those activities and services (article 6º from the mentioned Decree Nº 297/20 and Administrative Decision Nº 429/20 which integrates others to the list). In particular, by Administrative Decision 450/2020 from the Chef de Ministers Cabinet the list of activities and services labeled as essentials was enlarged, among the added services was the: "Registration, identification and carding of persons" (Article 1º, para 8). 2. Firstly, responding to the measure of "social, preventative and mandatory isolation" imposed by the National Government (Decree Nº 297/20), service in some Civil Registration offices was suspended; then, most offices in the country have started to reopen, when the "Registration, identification and carding of persons" was deemed essential (450/2020) and have established operations by shifts. Notwithstanding, death registration was never suspended, but birth registration was (in small localities); and marriage celebrations and cohabitation registration may have been suspended for a while. 3. Working arrangements to ensure service continuity to citizenry include diverse measures, such as planning and establishment of scheduled appointments for in-person service, rotational shifts, availability of virtual media for inherent registration services and /or queries, phone communication channels for public service, as well as working remotely or teleworking for staff whose physical presence is not needed. In addition, the Civil Registration Authorities in the Provinces and in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, have established, according to their competencies, several in-person service channels for the public (scheduled appointments and shifts) and remote services (through phone, official websites). Also, each Authority has activated health protocols for their registrars and the public, observing measures adopted by the national government and the health authority. In particular, the National Register of Persons (RENAPER) has extended the validity of national identity documents; measures were also adopted in terms of service to the public, scaling down due to the pandemia, distributing service in the different offices and service areas by allocating previously scheduled appointments. In addition, RENAPER abolished the administrative periods and deadlines (Disposition 163/2020 of the National Directorate of RENAPER). At the same time, RENAPER released staff who are not in the essential or critical areas from attending physically, these staff are expected to perform their usual or similar duties from home. Also, RENAPER has authorised extraordinary leave, as a manner of prevention, with full pay, to staff who have to comply with social distancing due to a number of reasons, namely having arrived to Argentina from "affected zones", being classified as "suspicious cases", being 60 years of age or older, being pregnant and belonging to risk groups. (Disposition 164/2020 of the National Directorate ofRENAPER). 4. As mentioned in Item 1, in Argentina the: "Registration, identification and carding of persons" were designated as essential activities and services during the emergency (Article 1º, paragraph 8, Administrative decision 450/2020). Each Authority of Civil Registration and Capacity of Persons, according to their operation by provincial governments and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, has adopted gradual measures for compliance. RENAPER guarantees identification and carding services; at this time, this Federal Organ is working on the development of a COVID-19 Prevention Protocol, according to WHO recommendations and the National Health Authority. This includes continuity of activities, and return of staff to their homes. In turn, recommendations have been issued to staff and hygene measures have been taken extremely seriously, keeping spatial distance and avoiding contact, disinfecting surfaces and ventilating work spaces. The Argentinian identification system is based on two interdependent subsystems: registration and identity. The first sub-system is decentralized, is executed at provincial level and is regulated by the National Law Nº 26.413. This system is in charge of registering vital acts and events: births, marriages, disabilities, deaths, among others. These acts and events are physically reflected on birth and/or death certificates. The second sub-system, exclusively federal, dictated by laws number 17.671 and 24.540 on the "newly born" subject identification, corresponds to the competencies of the National Register of Persons (RENAPER) and has the objective of producing the Identity National Document (DNI), on the basis of a unique key (called: "D.N.I. number") and dactyloscopy (finger print) identification techniques. Also, Law Nº 17.671 and its revisions designate RENAPER as the sole Authority for issuing passports. At the same time, the identity sub-system is the basis for the construction of the Electoral Register, according to Law Nº 26.571. Both sub-systems feed and support one another, and jointly form the identification system of Argentina. Finally, RENAPER is a member of the Federal Council of Civil Registration and Capacity of Persons of the Argentinian Republic, coordinating body, created by Law 26.413 (Article 93) which aims at: a) linking the functional relation of all civil registration authorities in the country, b) fostering exchange of experiences among all general directorates, and c) establishing and unifying criteria on interpretation and implementation of current registration legislation. |
21 April 2020 |
| Chile |
The original documents in Spanish from the country are listed below:
1. Yes, in Chile the Service of Civil Registration and Identification is considered an essential service. 2. Given that CR is considered an essential services, and in order to ensure continuity of service while avoiding crowding, a shift system has been established in our offices. Resolution Nº 113/2020 is attached, which outlines internal management measures.Attached are the minutes with the details of measure taken by CR Authority due to the COVID-19 contingency, including places where services are delivered, in order of priority: registration of death, birth, issuing of ID documents, celebration of marriages. 3. The Service of Civil Registration and Identification of Chile, has adopted all mechanisms in order to ensure registration of vital events. Therefore, there will be no impact in the registration of vital events. As of today, registration of births and deaths, as well as vital statistics, have been done in a regular fashion. In addition, in the case of registration of deaths, there is also the modality by written request, whereby cemeteries are able to perform burials and the registration can be done afterwards in the local registration office. Even in the case where registration offices would have to stop services, therefore suspending registration of births or deaths, it is foreseen to activate regional emergency offices. These would deliver registration services for births and deaths, in order to satisfy this public need. A staff member would be in charge of this emergency office; the staff member is a civil oficial with competency to act in each of the Region's offices. This will ensure that registration is recorded in the place of occurrence of the vital event. 4. Modality of work implemented: Teleworking (Resolution Exempt Nº 114/2020) Shift system (with the exception of staff members that have high risk conditions) As mentioned in the previous item, and considering that vital events are being registered in a regular fashion, there is no impact to evaluate, until this moment. Instructions issued by the Registrar General (Chief of Service) priorise continuity of services through either the shift system, or the creation of emergency offices. 5. The CR Authority will ensure that vital events are registered in their place of occurrence, maintaining the registration system operating in a regular fashion, in order to assure the quality of data. |
15 April 2020 |
| Colombia |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. According to Article 131 of the Politic Constitution, registrars and notaries deliver public services. In the context of the measure adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, through Decree 457 dated 22 March 2020, the president of the Republic ordered mandatory preventative isolation of all persons resident in Colombia, allowing free movement for activities related to notaries, according to schedules and shifts established by the Superintendent of Notary and Registrar. Through joint Circular # 37, on 27 March 2020, the National Registrar and Civil Status and the Superintendent of Notary and Registrar, adopted measures for registration of births and deaths in the Civil Registrar during the health emergency generated by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemia. Indeed, while on mandatory preventative isolation, civil registration services will be delivered in the notaries' offices, according to schedules and shifts established by the Superintendent of Notary and Registrar. 2. Even though civil registration services will be delivered in the notaries' offices, services in the Registrar offices is suspended while on mandatory preventative isolation, which effectively reduces the number where civil registration services are delivered to the public. 3. The National Registrar and Civil Status is tele-working since 17 March. Birth, death and marriage registration can be done in the notaries' offices that are authorised to perform registration functions, according to schedules and shifts established by the Superintendent of Notary and Registrar. While on mandatory preventative isolation, foot prints will not be printed for registration of (births of ) children under 7 years of age, nor will biometric equipment be utilised, so as to mitigate the propagation risk of coronavirus COVID-19. If birth registration is not done within the legal period, the parents or registrant will be able to do it afterwards, with the understanding that it not a late or delayed registration. A medical notification of live birth will suffice for health subscription and reporting in the case of infants below 3 months of age, according to article 2.1.3.5. of Decree 780 of 2016. Copies of civil registration certificates can be requested via web 4. As mentioned above, births, deaths and marriages are registered in the notaries' offices that are authorised to perform registrar functions. |
15 April 2020 |
| Ecuador |
For the original reply in Spanish, click on this text. 1. The Service of Registration, Identification and Carding of persons is an essential service established in the Republic Constitution, and in the Organic Law of Identity Management and Civil Data-LOGIDAC. However, the General Directorate of Civil Registration, Identification and Carding-DIGERCIC, in order to preserve the integrity of its staff members and the citizenry in general, has strengthened the Virtual Agency, which guarantees continuity of public services in a timely and efficient manner. In addition, teleworking has been implemented and the only in-person service, at national level, is the registration of deaths. This is service free of cost, and all health and safety protocols and norms are met. Currently, death registrations where the cause of death is COVID-19, are done directly between the CR and in the health facility where the death occurred. The death notification is signed by the attending physician who certifies the cause of death, and dispatches this notification to the CR. Starting 3 April 2020, death registration requests are available online by means of the Virtual Agency, this is open for any cause of death. 2. Impacts for the DIGERCIC due to COVID-19 are framed in 4 axis: Social.-Given that COVID-19 constitutes a fortuitous event that surprised most governments at global level, societies were not prepared to face a crisis of such magnitude. Thus, measures were implemented "on the go" in order to guarantee delivery of service (for example, online registration of death) and to preserve the integrity of the citizens. However, not all the population follows the social distance norms issued by authorities. Psycholigical.- Fear of contagion and isolation has psychological consequences both among the public and staff members. Thus, the implementation of teleworking for the 1939 staff members of DIGERCIC. Human Talent.- Even if all DIGERCIC staff members follow the biosafety norms, the aggressiveness of the virus does not guarantee that staff members can be spared by the disease. In case of contagion, the institution operation might be affected, particularly in regards to in-person services. Economic.- Most of DIGERCIC income are generated by the issuance of identity cards and passports, which cannot be issued virtually. Thus, during these months there will be considerable monetary impacts. 3. Virtual Agency available 24/7, issuing death certificates, identity, marriage, birth, cohabitation. Currently, the service of online death registration request is under development. At national level, 27 agencies are maintained in operation, delivering the service of in-person death registration, at no cost during the emergency situation, working hours are 08h00-12h00, and for agencies in Quito, Guayaquil and Durán, the hours are 08h00-17h00. Working arrangements of teleworking for a total of 1939 public officials, with a daily report of activities by each Administrative Zone and Zone Coordination. Personalised service through social media in order to facilitate requirements. 4. DIGERCIC has addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemia by implementing the following actions: Working arrangements of teleworking, Service of death registration, in-person and online, free of cost (extended hours in the main agencies). Extended period for those with expired (or close to expire) identity cards, under Resolution Nº 029-DIGERCIC-CGAJ-DPyN-2020, dated 19 March 2020, signed by the highest authority.Permanent delivery of services through the Virtual Agency 24 hours, 7 days a week. Coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and the Institute of Social Security in order to register deaths caused by COVID-2019 via official channels. Supply staff members with the necessary personal protection equipment (Biosafety such as gloves, masks, goggles and alcohol gel) for interaction with the public. Encouraging the public visiting agencies to follow health norms in place (keeping adequate distance, supply hand alcohol and request the use of goggles, masks and gloves). Press conferences of the highest authority, detailing requirements for death registrations and availability of registration services at national level. Recomendación In order to ensure that all births, deaths, marriages and other vital events are registered during this time, it is recommended to leverage technological tools, and to develop virtual services to deliver services. In case it is not possible to implement technological developments, it is recommended not to have more than 30 people at a time in a CR office (agency), to keep a minimum distance of two meters between users, to provide staff with gloves, protection goggles, masks and alcohol gel. It is key that registration of deaths due to COVID-19, are done directly between the CR and the attending physicians, in order to avoid crowds and potential contagions. It is also important to keep contact with peer institutions in other countries, in order to form a regional front where best practices to fight the pandemic are shared. Foster the implementation of public policies, in the case of Ecuador " Ecuador Digital". This allows continuity in the deliver of services, such as civil registration. The public is enabled to use digital tools to access a range of services. 5. In these hard moments that society is enduring, it is important that human virtues surface, such as solidarity, respect and discipline. This will allow achievement of measures adopted by governments, and minimize human loss. Looking forward, measures will be needed to address socio-economic aspects in order to reactivate local and national economies. |
17 April 2020 |
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 1. Civil Registration is an essential service in Afghanistan, as the national identity document is the base for all other services provided by the Government, but due to COVID-19 and for safety of citizens and employee, services are provided only on urgent and emergency bases. Minimum number of Staff report to duty to provide Services. 2. COVID-19 has affected the daily life routine everywhere, it has affected our Civil Registration and Vital Statistics operations as well. Due to the restriction and quarantine of cities there will be an increased influx in demand for the Civil Registration services once the COVID-19 situation is under control and delivery of services get back to normal. There will be increase in demand for Identity Document, Birth registrations and Death registration throughout the country and this could affect the quality and timely delivery of services due to large number of applicants effected by the lock down in response to COVID-19. 3. As mentioned above only urgent services are provided, schedules have been created for staff to report to duty as such to avoid gatherings of applicants and limit staff working in closed environments. 4. At first, we hope we find a way to fight COVID-19 or reduce the spread of it to least number, but if the containment periods keeps extending we need to amend the long-term strategies and look for other ways of registering vital events. At the time being, we have developed an Online Application System for CRVS services. In case the COVID-19 quarantine is extended and this pandemic keeps effecting the services delivery, Online application system could be a good solution to avoid gatherings and at the meantime provide services. |
12 April 2020 |
| Armenia | 1. In the context of the state of emergency declared on March 16 to April 12 in regard with the prevention of coronavirus diseases in the Republic of Armenia, civil status acts registration territorial bodies shall register only deaths and births. The staff of CSAR bodies have been placed at the three largest hospitals in Yerevan to ensure the birth registration of children in a safe environment. At the same time, registrations of paternity acknowledgement or marriages of the child's parents are conducted. 2. The registration period for all other vital events has been suspended. Citizens have been forewarned that all registration will take place at the CSAR offices after the official restrictions of free movement are lifted. 3. Citizens are informed that they can send electronic applications for registration of civil status acts. Applications must be entered into the system. After the restrictions are officially lifted, all registrations will take place with the Civil Registry Office. 4. In the Republic of Armenia, as already mentioned in point 1, the state registration of all births and deaths is ensured. Civil Status Acts Registration Offices, moreover, when registering births and deaths, immediately send applications to the State Social Security Service for a lump-sum birth and funeral allowance. The citizens come to a bank organization near their home and receive the money they were entitled to within a week. In regard with marriages and divorces, it is worth stating that citizens who come to the Civil Registry Office, register their vital events. However, most citizens prefer to defer registrations. |
13 April 2020 |
| Azerbaijan | 1. According to the Article 158 of the Family Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Registration of Civil Status Acts is carried out both for the state and public interest, and for the protection of personal and property rights of citizens. Since these facts are verifiable and legal, their state registration is substantial. In order to prevent the danger of a Corona virus infection in the territory of Azerbaijan, an operative headquarters consisting of responsible persons was established under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to the Action Plan adopted by the operative headquarters, certain social isolation measures were taken, all government agencies have been assigned important tasks in order to strengthen the fight against corona virus infection, apart from the fields of work and services necessary for the life and activities of people, a special quarantine regime was applied in the country through suspension of activities in other fields from March 14 to May 31, 2020, also restrictions on movement in the country were determined within the framework of this regime. Furthermore, since March 31 new rules were determined to minimize communication of people with each others and restrictions on their movement were more hardened. 2. In order to effectively fight against the COVID-19 infection, in the period of special quarantine regime population applies directly to the registration departments in connection with the registration of only birth, marriage and death, in other cases, they use the services electronically. Relevant services are provided to persons applying directly to the registration departments through accepting documents at the entrance of the building without entering the administrative buildings. State registration of marriage is carried out in the above-mentioned manner only with the participation of persons entering the marriage without conducting solemn ceremonies. The number of employees in all registration departments was regulated in accordance with the volume of work, as well as preferential terms were applied to employees over the age of 60 and women with underage children. 3. Special order on "strengthening the fight against COVID-19 infection in the justice and judicial authorities" dated 17.03.2020 was signed on the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan, relevant order was reviewed by all registration departments, boards reflecting the explanatory information about the fight against the corona virus, as well as information on the rules for applying for services provided for people in the field of registration was placed in the relevant agencies. Moreover, the people were provided with an opportunity to apply for registration of Civil Status Acts through sections "Public services", "Contact for citizens", "Interactive contact" of the official website of the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, live broadcasts are made on various topics, questions of interest to the audience are answered at the Facebook pages of the Ministry of Justice and Head office of the registration and notary for the purpose of regular legal education of citizens. 4. In order to register the birth of all children and provide them with a certificate of this, on the basis of information on the birth of a child included in the information system of the Ministry of Justice from the Ministry of Health, registration offices send a notification to the address where the mother lives about the obligation to register the birth of her child and when parents apply to the department, they are provided with the appropriate certificate upon registration of birth. In order to determine the natural movement of the population as one of the urgent measures made in our country in order to ensure the safety and health of the population, the Ministry of health organized the transfer of death data to the Ministry of justice through the information system and the state registration of death immediately. Furthermore, registration departments were recommended to register applications for registration of other civil status acts in electronic form in the period of special quarantine regime only after the end of the relevant period. |
7 May 2020 |
| Bahrain | 1. In Bahrain, civil registration including the registration of birth and death is in the custody of the NSO and is considered very essential and used heavily for the generation of vital and population statistics. Working from home has been applied to some jobs to minimize the contact among team members. Employees are still reporting to duty in the offices to insure service continuity. 2. All civil and vital registration are offered online and all cases can be registered electronically including births, deaths, marital statuses, and issuance of ID cards. Registration of vital events has not been affected so far. 3. Most cases are serviced through the web portal while service centers are kept open to receive cases that require personal attendance. Employees are asked to apply the recommended safety measures against the risk of infection. 4. Births and deaths are still reported electronically online by the hospitals. Ministry of Justice report to us the marriage and divorce cases. Documents are delivered to the applicants via the Post Office after clients submit their requests electronically via the web portal. |
9 April 2020 |
| Bangladesh | 1. Civil registration in Bangladesh doesn't consider as an essential service. Now officials of civil registration are under general holiday and they are staying at home to contain the spreading of Coronavirus. 2. In general, COVID-19 impacts partially on functionality of civil registration authority as the office of the Registrar General and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics like other non-essential services are under general holiday in Bangladesh and officials are staying at home. As digital connectivity is available with many officials including civil registrars, so the functionality of civil registration remains active partially. 3. Continuation mostly with work at home but in some registration center in rural and urban areas continuation of service delivery maintaining social distance. 4. Online registration of birth and death are continuing and in case of service delivery from the rural registrar's the office will be continued with maintaining social distance during COVID-19 pandemic. |
14 April 2020 |
| China: Hong Kong SAR | 1. Registrations of births, deaths and marriages (BDM) are essential services in Hong Kong. At present, the services for BDM are maintained. 2. At present, BDM registries are providing registrations of BDM services only. Other services such as application for search and certified copies of BDM records are suspended except for urgent cases. 3. While it is considered necessary to maintain services for BDM registrations, at present, we deploy adequate manpower to support the operations of BDM registries for essential registrations. 4. BDM registrations are required to be conducted in person according to legal requirements. Precautionary measures, such as temperature measurement checkpoints, provision of hand sanitizer, placing of sanitizing mat at entrances and rearrangement of public seating for maintenance of social distance, limiting the number of participants for a marriage celebrating at the Marriage Registry, displaying posters of the Department of Health for enhancing public and staff awareness on novel coronavirus and the relevant precautionary measures etc are in place at BDM registries to prevent the spread of COVID-19. |
15 April 2020 |
| Georgia | 1. Civil registration is considered as an essential service in Georgia. All representatives of the managerial positions are required to report for duty but all other employees, including essential and non-essential services are requested to fulfill their obligations from home. 2. The COVID-19 did not have much impact on the registration of vital events as far as the majority of registrations (including birth and death) were available online over years. But as for those that were not available electronically, with intensive and immediate efforts of the authority, they also became available online in the shortest period of time. In regards to the functionality of the civil registration authority, namely, the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA), thanks to introducing and promoting e-governance in its services over the years as well as a result of the immediate measures in the amid of the corona virus, PSDA quickly adapted to the changed circumstances and managed to duly operate even in the emergency situation. 3. The working arrangements that have been implemented, inter alia, are as follow: - With the aim of ensuring distant work of the overwhelming majority of PSDA employees, the informational technology infrastructure was fully adapted in the shortest period of time; Those who are requested to report for duty are regularly provided by the Agency with the disinfection and hygienic equipment; - PSDA made almost all services (especially the most demanded ones) available electronically for any customer with minor exceptions; - Customers can receive an electronic copy of the requested document (a birth and death certificate) through the website with protection of privacy and confidentiality. The electronic copy has the same legal force as the original (hard copy) document; - During the emergency situation, all ready (hard copy) documents (including birth and death certificates) are delivered to a customer via post offices with protection of privacy and confidentiality; - PSDA also ensures outreach of the population on its services and their availability on daily basis. 4. The main recommendations the Agency would provide is firstly, to mobilize efforts for making registration of the vital events electronically available ensuring protection of privacy and confidentiality, and secondly, to provide proper informational technology infrastructure for foster distant work of employees. |
27 April 2020 |
| Indonesia | 1. Yes, In Indonesia civil registration services are still available for public although some rules apply under this circumstance i.e. physical distancing, online services, etc. 2. Generally, limited and reduced services are the consequences due to shorter working hours, fewer personnel, and budget refocusing. 3. So far, government encourages working from home and physical distancing which inevitably will increase the usage of technology (computer, internet, smartphones) and also outreaching. 4. Ministry of National Development Planning mainly applies work from home rules which fortunately has been starting from December last year. Recommendation for civil registration services: invest more on IT to enhance online-based services including portable business process, personnel capacity building, enhance artificial intelligent on the future. |
15 April 2020 |
| Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 1. Civil registration, especially birth and death registration, is one of the basic services in the country, and except for public and national holidays, this service is not closed, especially by the National Organization of Civil Registration. 2. Activating the "Notification Network" for vital events registration. Considering the necessary actions in civil registration offices to ensure social distancing, notifying vital events electronically to registration offices, as possible. 3. Deadline for vital events notification such as birth and death events are relaxed during the upcoming COVID-19 and also penalties for delay notification are not considered. However, due to the existence of the Notification Network, the civil registration offices are informed of the occurrence of the event. By the way, registration and issuance of documents may be delayed. Civil registration offices are responsible after COVID-19 containment to register vital events that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic at any time. 4. Civil Registration Coordination Council in provinces and cities are activated. The Civil Registration Coordination Council in cities includes members of: Forensic Medicine, Post, Municipality, Governorate, Justice, Health Network, and Department of Agriculture. |
14 April 2020 |
| Korea (Republic of) | 1. In Korea, Civil Registration is an essential service and there are no restrictions on regional containment or movement due to COVID-19, and most of Civil Registration staffs are working in their offices and Civil Registration is being carried out without any disruption. 2. The COVID-19 effect on Civil Registration appears to be minimal, and even if COVID-19 confirmed cases occur in the office, the office will be operated again within a few days after the shutdown for preventing the spread of the virus. 3. Until now, there has been no situation that does not guarantee the continuity of Civil Registration, but in the case of birth, expansion of the online birth registration system is being promoted. 4. There are no special recommendations, and CRVS in Korea are reported and processed according to schedule. |
10 April 2020 |
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | 1. The Civil registration is an essential service in Lao PDR especially the registration of birth and death as well as other vital events. In the Lao PDR, the infected cases have eventually occurred in the country and there is a risk of the outbreak nationwide, the number of infected was 19 cases, no death (updated 12 April 2020). The Prime Minister has given order by allow all staff and civil servants of all ministries, central and local administrative authorities across the country to carry out the official work and duties at home by means of using remote communication such as internet, telephone, email, social media applications and teleconference. Nonetheless, the government authorities have appointed 1-3 officers on daily duty at the office to ensure a smooth and effective coordination for any important matter. 2. The impact of COVID-19 on the registration of vital events is according to the Prime's Minister's order to allow government staff and people to stay at home which no citizen is allowed to leave the house unless necessary. Therefore, the birth, death and vital events registration could not register during this situation, however, Ministry of Home Affairs has noticed to local authorities especially village chiefs to record and collect the vital events and statistics of citizen and report the Provincial authorities and Ministry of Home Affairs. 3. Currently, Ministry of Home Affairs, Provincial and District Office of Home Affairs (Office for civil registration) have assigned at least 1-3 officers on duty at the office and working closely with Village chiefs to record and collect the number of citizen to ensure that all births, deaths, and marriages and other vital events are registered and certified the birth certificate, as well as District Offices of Home Affairs has also assigned the village chiefs to collect the number of lao worker who returned from working in neighboring countries during COVID-19 pandemic in each villages. 4. To ensure that all events are registered, Ministry of Home Affairs has informed the provincial and district offices of Home Affairs (office for civil registration) to assigned the village chiefs to record all vital events occurred during COVID-19 pandemic, after ending of the COVID-19, district office of Home Affairs will re-register and issue the vital events certificate to citizen. |
14 April 2020 |
| Maldives | 1. Civil registration considered an essential service in Maldives, as the National Identification card is the base for all the services provided by the government and private sector. We have design to working both online and in office during this pandemic; and clients submit their requests electronically via the web portal. 2. During the period of COVID-19 Government highly instructed to work from home. We are trying to strengthen online registration services day by day. 3. The working arrangement in this period it's mandatory to check temperature, wear mask each and every staff at the entrance and hand sanitizers are provided. We limit the staffs in the office and ensure social distancing. However, connection problems with the internet presents itself as a complication along with the staff's unfamiliarity with the electronic systems to provide and carry out the services. 4. HPA (Health Protection Agency) Guidelines is mandatory to follow. We have reduced number of citizens allowed to come inside the office for the services. The citizens only have to visit the office to collect National ID card. Hence we ensure social distancing, and its mandatory to check temperature, hand sanitize wear mask. |
13 August 2020 |
| Philippines | 1. Civil Registration is an essential service in the Philippines, although due to the current pandemic (COVID-19) delivery of civil registration services in terms of issuance of copies of civil registry documents is affected due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) implemented by the government. 2. COVID-19 impact on registration is the observed delay in the registration of vital events because of the quarantine period. Yet, in many parts of the country, the office of the City/Municipal Civil Registrars are still functioning, as they are maintaining a skeletal workforce to ensure that civil registration services are still available in their locality. 3. Establishing a skeletal workforce in civil registry offices including the Civil Registration Service of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to cater to very urgent need for civil registry documents, especially the overseas Filipino workers. PSA established hotlines wherein citizens can inquire and ask the status of their previously forwarded civil registry documents before the quarantine period. 4. The PSA issued memorandum circular to all civil registrars in the country on guidelines to follow regarding the registration of vital events during this COVID-19 period. The circular also highlights the need to ease on the requirements regarding the delayed registration of vital events due to the pandemic. |
24 April 2020 |
| Sri Lanka | 1. No, The civil registration system is NOT named as an essential service in Sri Lanka. 2. The government circular that refers to the continuation of essential services dated 20th March 2020, (PS/CSA/Circular/14/2020) state that "Functions of the District Secretariats and Divisional Secretariats are to be carried out continuously". Also, all government officers have been instructed to work from home. All the Births, Deaths and Marriage Registrars do their usual work at their divisions. Currently issues related to registration of vital events and the functionality of the civil registration system does not appear to have been impacted by COVID-19; 3. Births: During this pandemic period we are not planning to register births in real time but according to the Section 24 of the Birth and Death Registration Act No: 17 of 1951, officials of the Registrar General's Department is empowered to register the past Births, We are in the process of amending the present department circular regarding past births registration introducing several simplifications of procedure to the general public .Furthermore, we are planning to carry out some mobile services and special birth registration programs to register past births that occur during COVID19 pandemic without delays. Deaths: We have informed all Births and Deaths Registrars to register all the deaths that occurred in the hospital or outside the hospital in real time. As a practice in Sri Lankan Local Authorities (Municipal Councils, Urban Councils or Pradeshiya Sabhas) don't grant their approval to burial or cremation of bodies without the Death Certificates or written permission from the Registrar General. For that purpose we have introduced the following three formats in addition to the Death Certificates. B 16-written permission issued by the Death Registrar for the death that occurred outside of the hospital B 18-written permission issued by the Coroner or Magistrate for a sudden death B 33-written declaration issued by the medical authorities for the death occurred in the hospitalIn the beginning of this pandemic emergency in Sri Lanka we re-informed all the relevant authorities regarding the above procedures / formats, through electronic media and a press release. Therefor all the deaths registration procedure is functioning as usual. Marriages: According to the provisions of the three legal enactments governed the marriages namely as Marriage (General) Registration Ordinance No: 19 of 1907, Marriage and Divorce (Kandian) Registration Act No: 44 of 1952 and Marriage and Divorce (Muslim) Registration Act No: 13 of 1951, marriage certificate should be delivered to the bride at the event of registration. Therefor the marriages cannot take place without the participation of the marriage registrars because of the legal duty of the marriage registrar to issue the marriage certificate in real time. Considering the safety of the general public due to this pandemic, the marriage registrars follow safety guide lines issued by the health and security authorities such as social distancing. Accordingly, all marriages are registered in real time without any delay. There is minimum social participation. In most cases participants at a marriage during COVID19 are the Marriage Registrar, Two marrying parties and two witnesses only as they are required to conform to social distancing and health regulations. 4. Please see response to question 3. Because of the above arrangements and the well-established registration process has been introduced to the vital events, we ensure that we can covered the births, deaths, marriages and other vital events as usual. |
20 April 2020 |
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| EUROPE | No reply available yet. |
| Continent and country or area |
Impact of COVID-19 on Civil Registration | Information as of |
|---|---|---|
| Australia, Capital Territory | 1. In the ACT, functions performed by civil registry are an essential service. 2. The registration of vital events are occurring as usual owing to the digital service channels ordinarily used in the ACT that are being supported through work from home arrangements. 3. Registration of events are facilitated through digital channels, or by post on exception. Staff work from laptops that provide access the infrastructure relied on for civil registry functions. As such, during COVID-19, registry staff will continue to deliver services however they will be working remotely. 4. The health controls and restrictions that have been adopted in the ACT are such that the impact of COVID-19 is not causing significant disruption to the registry, however, this situation is being monitored closely. |
27 May 2020 |
| Australia, Northern Territory | 1. Our understanding is that civil registration is not an essential service in the Covid 19 pandemic. 2.To date, NT BDM has continued the registration of all vital life events. 3. NT BDM is confident in the continued provision of life event registration. There are a number of arrangements both planned or already in place to ensure continuity in line with business continuity and disaster recovery plans. 4. NT BDM is confident in the continued provision of life event registration. There are a number of arrangements both planned or already in place to ensure continuity in line with business continuity and disaster recovery plans. RBDM Qld manage all registration of life events for the state. |
26 April 2020 |
| Australia, Queensland | 1. Yes-civil registration is considered an essential service in the state of Queensland, Australia. 2. To date, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Queensland (RBDM Qld) has continued the registration of all vital life events. 3. RBDM Qld is confident in the continued provision of life event registration. There are a number of arrangements both planned or already in place to ensure continuity in line with business continuity and disaster recovery plans. 4. RBDM Qld is confident in the continued provision of life event registration. There are a number of arrangements both planned or already in place to ensure continuity in line with business continuity and disaster recovery plans. RBDM Qld manage all registration of life events for the state. |
20 April 2020 |
| Australia, South Australia | Civil Registration is an essential service to government in South Australia (SA). The key essential services identified as part of the Business Continuity Plan for Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) are issuing cremation permits and registering births and deaths. A full civil registration service continues to be provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees both working from home and in the office, noting many of the key services are offered online. At this stage COVID-19 has not impacted on the functionality of SA Births, Deaths and Marriages, with service standards still being met. Alternative working arrangements are planned to be implemented should a full office closure be required. This includes key staff being set-up to work from home processing online services, and alternative arrangements being made for printing of priority certificates. It is proposed that in the case of a full office closure, the services identified as essential will continue to be provided. All other services would fully resume when the office reopens. |
14 April 2020 |
| Australia, Tasmania | The registration of births and deaths is considered an essential service in Tasmania (TAS) and the intention is for this activity to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Business Continuity Plan for Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) registration staff have been set-up to work from home with remote access to the systems and information required to continue registration tasks. At this stage COVID-19 has not impacted on the functionality of TAS BDM, with service standards still being met. Staff are both working from home and in the office and the use of online services has notably increased since government advice to the community has been to stay at home. The majority of registration information is now lodged online. Stakeholders who still use paper registration forms have been encouraged to submit information electronically, to assist with remote processing. Alternative working arrangements are planned to be implemented should a full office closure be required. In addition to staff working from home, arrangements are being made for printing of priority certificates and mailing activity to be undertaken at an alternate site. It is proposed that in the case of a full office closure, registration services would continue with minimum delays to processing timeframes. All other services, including the processing of standard certificate applications, would fully resume when the office reopens. |
20 April 2020 |
| Cook Islands | 1. Our Registry Division is based within the Ministry of Justice in the Cook Islands and some of the services we provide to public can fall under the category of essential services. For example, birth registrations have a 14 days deadline and death registration have a 3 days deadline which we have to enter information into the register. 2. Currently, the Cook Islands Registry haven't stop the registration of life events. However, we have minimize the public physical contact with our Registry Staff. We have allowed for the registration of life events to continue with safety measure put in place and implemented. 3. Seeing that we still have the old way of registration of life events where a person has to come to our office to provide the information required for the registration. Due to COVID-19 we have allowed for the gathering and compiling of information for registration to be filed or send by email. We have highly recommended and now using e-communication in order for us to continue our life events registration. Additional to that we have provided forms to relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Health and Internal Affairs. 4. We consulted with the relevant Ministries and Agencies ensuring that registration of vital events continue. 5. It is important for us to continue with our life events registration because this will allow public to access legal documents when required. |
29 April 2020 |
| Fiji | 1. Yes, civil registration is considered an essential service in Fiji. 2. All Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) offices are open during the official hours of 8am to 4.30pm (Monday to Thursday) and 8am to 4pm on Fridays as we are considered as an essential service and these offices are accessible even in the lockdown areas. So the impact so far is none on the registration of vital events and functionality of the registration authority. 3. Working arrangement is the same (same hours of work and work from the BDM office) as before and since there are 22 BDM offices all over Fiji, staff have the flexibility to work in other offices if any particular area is under lockdown. Given that we are essential services, plans are to continue business as usual and implement precautionary measures to protect frontline staff. 4. BDM office has not stopped anyone from accessing the BDM offices for the registration of vital events and there has been no impact on our services. All offices are open with sufficient staff and resources and all these offices and officers are well equipped to cater for any increased demand for BDM services. As precautionary measures, we have put up notices for the general public to maintain required distance and a BDM officer now and then makes announcements to the waiting public to maintain this rule for their safety and the safety of the staff. Sufficient markings are made on the floor for people to stand at least one meter away from each other. 5. There is a mandatory rule/directive for people travelling into Fiji to be in isolation for 14 days as a safety measure. Those people who are found to be in breach of these orders are required to complete an additional 14 days of isolation prior to visiting the BDM office. |
9 April 2020 |
| Marshall Islands | 1. Yes, civil registration is an essential service in RMI. Ministry of Health and Human Services will be available for the collection and submission of birth and death certificate to Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs (MOCIA). MOCIA Registrar's Office will be open for public access to certificates. 2. Due to RMI's paper-based registration system, several protocols need to be developed and put into place to ensure the safety and welfare of both the public and our civil servants. The initial plans to digitize RMIS CRVS System have been postponed due to travel bans and will hopefully take place late 2020. 3. MOCIA is still in the planning stages of response to the need for civil registration services during a potential COVID-19 outbreak. These plans include the need for social distancing, PPE provision, and information/certificate dissemination. 4. The Gender and Protection Cluster, along with the Human Rights Office continue to raise the need for better and prioritized planning of access to civil registration during this time. MOCIA and MOHHS are encouraged to work together on finding solution the communications/delivery pathways for interagency work as well as the best and most practical and efficient methods of delivering these services to the public. |
30 April 2020 |
| New Zealand | Civil registration considered an essential service in New Zealand. Birth and Death registration is able to be completed entirely online, with certificates being sent to families using contactless courier. Due to lockdown restrictions only limited registration staff are working from offices, however sufficient are able to work to deal with all births and deaths. Some less vital services-such as marriage registration, correction of errors, name or gender changes-were not being delivered during the five week lockdown, but will recommence when this ends. There has been no significant change in demand for civil registration services as a result of COVID-19. Our birth registration and parenting tool-www.smartstart.services.govt.nz continues to be used heavily-and there has been no reduction in registration rates. There has been a reduction in calls to our offices, but this has been balanced by an increase in emails. While our staff need to be in the office to respond to calls, they are able to answer emails from home. In addition to maintaining core services, the Registrar-General has been part of the leadership for the national COVID Fatality Response. This has included dialing reporting on death rates using online death notification data, regular assessment of mortuary and burial/cremation capacity, and providing additional information through Police to families of deceased. Regular email newsletters are being sent to all Marriage Celebrants and Funeral Directors with advice on how to respond to COVID-19. |
23 April 2020 |
| Samoa | 1. To date, Samoa's public service is still opening including the Civil registration but the hours of work have been reduced from 9am-5pm to 9am-3pm during the partial lockdown. But the Civil Registration will not be considered as an essential service in a full lockdown 2.It is the business community that is mostly affected with closure of public leisure places like parks, restaurants, bars, buses (only taxis and private cars are allowed now) and also the closure of schools and church services and the supermarkets only opens from 6am to 6pm. Given the strict measures on social distancing in the public and also the closure of bus transportation which is the main and the cheapest form of transportation in Samoa, and the closure of schools and church services, the registration of vital events have been really cut down by about 70 percent. 3. As mentioned before Samoa's public service is still opening including the civil registration but the hours of work have been reduced from 9am-5pm to 9am-3pm. Our employees have been put on rotational shift during the week to keep the distance of 2 meters apart in the working place. Given the slow registration at this time, we have also reduced the registration hours from 10am to 2pm. We have also used office vehicles to pick-up and drop off staff affected by the bus closure. We have also used the media to inform the public about opening hours and contact numbers for any registration matters. The notices are also on our website. 4. Honestly, before the CoVID 19, our registration system has been very low at about 70% for births and 30% for deaths. Before the CoVID 19, we've already started working with the Office of the Attorney General to look into our existing Legislation and identify areas to improve the public's compliance to registration of births, deaths and also marriages.The temporary lockdown of about 6 weeks has given us more time to assess our internal registration systems and processes further and then note areas to prioritize for improvement once we come back to normality. We have just appointed a new Registrar last month and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to improve our registration processes. 5. Samoa has already embarked on the implementation of its National ID project which will also include the technical assessment of the existing civil registration system as it will be used as the foundational data for the digital National ID. Our office is leading this project. This is the opportunity that we have been waiting for some time to go in conjunction with our internal assessments and we are really excited about this big project which is funded by the World Bank. To date, the Legal Team contracted to draft the National ID Legislation has just started last week and now working from a distance due to the CoVID 19. Secondly, our Technical ID team will also be on board in another two weeks. So we are expecting a lot of civil registration related activities in the next several months which we hope this will lead to a more efficient identification and registration system for all Samoa residents and citizens in the future. |
9 April 2020 |
| Solomon Islands | 1. MHA was considered non-essential services ministry but Civil Registration department was. 2. Since the state of emergency and scaling down of our public officers we have only three staffs working. There are also low turnout and demand of registrations. 3. Registration forms are online and can be filled and send via email for processing. All Provincial births and deaths are asked to send via email as Honiara is the only emergency area. Certificates will be scanned send via email while others through the normal channel (MHMS). 4. Avoid face to face interaction. Online registration could be our answer during this current events. |
9 April 2020 |
| Vanuatu | 1. A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is in place as a requirement by the Public Service Commission. It provides for essential services to be rovided during the SOEThe BCP provided for different scenarios from a State of Emergency (SOE) to a Lockdown. At this point in time, Vanuatu has no confirmed cases yet but our borders are closed and currently in a 10 day State of Emergency that is likely to be extended. This situation has not improved with a Category 5 Cyclone (TC Harold) that just crossed the Northern provinces with telecommunications and other essential services cut off. 2. The notable impact so far has been the services for verification of Birth registration information from financial institutions who offer Covid-19 packages. Otherwise, Vanuatu had just completed a nationwide Civil and Voter registration where citizens had a chance to register their births. 3. The Public Service has provided for flexible service hours as a measure to minimize contact with public but continue to provide the registration services. For CRVS, counter service is available during the SOE. If a lockdown is required, all registration services will be put on hold. The government network had prepared VPN access for working from home is required. The number of VPN access is very limited which means not all staff will have access to the network and the registration database (RegisterViz). 4. At the department level, registration services continue for half day for all offices including those in the provinces. While the counter services continue, social distancing and washing of hands are being practices with hand sanitizers an option for staff. The office is also currently piloting online application for vital registration and National ID. This will apply to those with network access. 5. It was noted in the BCP that the information stored in system (RegisterViz) can be used to help trace family members in the event where a family member may be infected by Covid-19 and for identifying potential members who may be at risk. The system also have residence information that will also be helpful in identifying vulnerable communities. However, consultation is underway to determine the ethical dimension of this approach. |
27 April 2020 |