Civil registration (CR) is the recording of vital events in a person’s life (e.g., birth, death) and is a fundamental function of the national government. Birth registration establishes an individual’s legal identity at birth. Having a legal identity, name, nationality, proof of age, and the related are important human rights and enables individuals to exercise their rights (e.g., to vote) and enjoy various government, social, and private services. Vital statistics (VS) are statistics on these vital events and of the persons concerned. The availability of reliable and up-to-date VS depends on the level of development of CR. Having an effective CRVS system is critical for planning and monitoring programs across several sectors. Yet, over 110 low- and middle-income countries have deficient CRVS systems. This course provides practical tools and approaches to achieving 21st century state-of-the-art CRVS systems that are linked to identity management systems and tailored to local contexts.

Completion of Modules 1-3 (Basic Level in the self-paced format https://olc.worldbank.org/content/civil-registration-and-vital-statistics-systems-self-paced) is a pre-requisite for the Facilitated format. The duration of the course is 6 weeks. Learners will receive an Advanced Level Certificate after successfully completing Module 5 (birth registration & adoption), Module 6 (death registration), plus three additional modules of the learner’s choice (4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13).

The previous classes (held September 11 to October 20, 2017; February 5 to March 16, 2018; July 9 to August 17, 2018; December 3, 2018 to January 31, 2019; May 20 to June 30, 2019; October 7 to November 17, 2019; March 23 to May 3, 2020; September 21 to November 1, 2020) were a great success. The next class will be held from March 29 to May 9, 2021. Enrollment begins January 2021.