Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md. Tajul Islam said that civil registration or birth and death registration plays a very important role in achieving the desired development goals of any nation. Stating that Civil Registration Vital Statistics or CRVS is very effective for accelerating progress, challenges, opportunities and action plans for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals or SDG-2030, the Minister of Local Government said, that is why the law has been formulated for registration of births and deaths in Bangladesh.
He said this while addressing the chief guest at a function organized on the occasion of the 3rd Regional Conference of Civil Registration Professionals of South Asia at an elite hotel in Dhaka today. Md. Mahbub Hossain, Secretary of the Council of Ministers, UNICEF Bangladesh Country Representative, Seldon Yate, were present as special guests in the event. It was presided over by Muhammad Ibrahim, Secretary of the Local Government Department.
Md Tajul Islam said, the statistics of how many people are living in the cities of Bangladesh as a result of rapid urbanization helps us in formulating policies. Moreover, the participation and contribution of women in the workplace in Bangladesh is recognized all over the world, he said, civil registration also plays an important role in preserving various types of information of men and women.
At the time, the Minister of Local Government thanked UNICEF and UN ESCAP for strengthening CRVS with birth and death registration in South Asia and said that such initiatives will serve as a basis for various studies while contributing to regional development and progress.
Expressing the hope that through this conference, the review of birth and death registration data among the participating South Asian countries, problems and possibilities will be opened, the minister said, as a result of this, an opportunity will be created to build a more sustainable future with inclusive civil registration and vital statistics.
Referring to the importance of setting the right policy for Civil Registration Vital Statistics or CRVS, Cabinet Secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain said that the participating civil registrars from South Asian countries will be enriched by exchanging experiences among themselves and the depth of relationship between them will increase which will further enrich regional communication ties. Local Government Department Secretary Muhammad Ibrahim said, the conference will create an opportunity to evaluate efforts so far, identify successes or good practices, lessons learned, take promising and effective initiatives, and identify investments to strengthen CRVS in South Asia.
Noted Civil Registration Professionals of South Asia or CRAT is a network of professionals dealing with civil registration in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The United Nations Children’s Fund Regional Office for South Asia (UNICEF ROSA) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) support the group. The network was formed in 2018 and two meetings were held thereafter. The objective of this regional conference to be held in Dhaka is to review the progress of this decade.
