CRVSMonitoring - Strengthening CRVS performance and data quality monitoring through Decision-First and Systems-Thinking approaches

Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems record vital events such as births and deaths and generate essential population and mortality data. Strengthening these systems requires countries to monitor both how well the system is functioning and the quality of the data it produces.

This project worked with three countries to strengthen country-owned approaches to CRVS monitoring. The work introduced an integrated approach that brings together system performance monitoring and data quality monitoring, helping countries not only assess results, but also understand the processes and system conditions that shape those results.

The work was guided by two complementary approaches:

  • Decision-first approach: Monitoring starts with the decisions stakeholders need to make. Indicators and data are then selected based on the information needed to support those decisions, helping ensure that monitoring is relevant, focused and actionable.
  • Systems-thinking approach: Monitoring looks across the full CRVS system, considering the relationships between processes, institutions and actors. This helps identify where bottlenecks, delays, fragmentation or other system-level issues affect both performance and the quality of the resulting data.

The project placed strong emphasis on multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together institutions involved across the CRVS system to jointly interpret findings, identify performance and data quality gaps, and agree on priorities for improvement.

Drawing on the experience from the three countries, the project developed a set of practical resources to support countries in establishing or strengthening CRVS performance and data quality monitoring systems, including:

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