(Newsletter April 2023)

The first Asia-Pacific CRVS Research Forum was held from 3-4 April 2023. The two-day online forum was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). It focused on innovative methods and approaches contributing to achievement of the goals of the Asia-Pacific CRVS Decade and showcased country-level success stories. Some of the themes covered included enhancing community engagement in civil registration, addressing systemic issues to strengthen CRVS systems and improving mortality statistics, among others. Overall, the Forum offered a major research, information sharing, and capacity-building opportunity for participants, who shared experiences in more than 15 countries through paper presentations and interactive sessions. Abstracts, papers and recordings of the sessions will be made available on the forum website. 

Participants included experienced CRVS practitioners and researchers from ESCAP Member States as well as representatives from international organizations, academia, private institutions and civil society.

ESCAP will support selected authors to finalize and publish their papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Funding was provided by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative.