By Fatmata Jengbe
The United Nations Legal Identity Agenda (UN-LIA) on Friday 17 January 2020 commended the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) for making “tremendous progress” in the establishment of an integrated Civil Registration, Vital Statistics (CRVS) and Identity Management System.
During a Stakeholder Consultative meeting at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room on the UN-LIA, Violet Kinuthia, a UN-LIA specialist described Sierra Leone’s CRVS System as “exceptional” like in few other African countries. “It has a system integrating Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and ID management which is clearly in line with the UN-LIA’s and UN Statistics Division Standards and other international best practices,” she said in her presentation.
A UN Statistician, Mrs. Fatoumata Sissoko said the digitalization and automation of the CRVS and ID Management System is ongoing with a lot of support from Development Partners (EU). She observed that the Mass Registration is ongoing though “overdue” to establish population register. `Death registration is still “significantly low” especially events occurring at home,’ she added.
The UN Officials recommended to Sierra Leone that there is need to prioritize complete automation of the CR business processes to enable production of a real-time population register, issuance of the National Identification Number (NIN) and production of regular vital statistics.
They said marriages, divorces, adoptions and nullities should be brought under the NCRA so that the CR System can account for family formation and family trees.
Fatoumata Sissoko said UNECA Board will prepare a report with recommendations on Sierra Leone’s position and readiness for implementation of UN-LIA and will identify the first 2-4 countries for immediate implementation of the UN-LIA.
Reacting to the assessment and recommendations of the UN officials, NCRA Director General, Mohamed M. Massaquoi said they will use the findings and recommendations to further advance and strengthen the system in ensuring they meet the desired purpose in line with the international best practice.
