Demographic and Social Statistics

The United Narions Statistical Commission, at its twenty-sixth session (4-13 February 1991), welcomed and gave its full support to the International Programme for Acceleating the Improvement of Vital Statistics and Civil Registration Systems, prepared jointly by the United Nations Statistical Office, the World Health Organization, the United Nations population Fund and the International Institute for Vital Registration and Statistics.

Among other activities proposed in the Programme, the Statistical Commission approved the suggestion that specialized workshops should be conducted in Latin America, Africa and other regions, under its auspices, and urged the United Nations Statistical Office and the other agencies sponsoring the Programme to implement those workshops as soon as possible.

The main objectives of the Workshop were: (i) to discuss ways and means for promoting the knowledge of vital-statistics and civil-registration systems in the invited countries; (ii) to evaluate the present situation of the systems i n each country, including the adaptation of registration procedures and ~he stages of processing of the statistics obtained; and (iii) to suggest the maln components of the national plans of action for the improvement of the systems ln the participating countries.

To that end, the Workshop discussed the following: (a) Diagnosis of the national vital-statistics and civil-registration systems in each country, including technical facilities, resources and the problems encountered in actions designed to improve the systems; (b) The role of the vital-statistics and civil-registrations systems in each country for various uses and application; (c) strategies for solving the problems of the systems in order to promote their development , bearing in mind the availability of modern technology; (d) The elements required for a national programme of activities, in the short and medium term, for substantial improvement of the system, with the priority objective of increasing the coverage in the registration of vital facts; (e) The forms of technical cooperation between international, regional and non-governmental agencies in support of the national plans of action for improving the systems.