For individuals, documents from vital events such as birth, death, and marriage certificates are crucial to providing legal identity and unlocking rights to education, access to healthcare, inheritances, and voting. For governments, information collected when these events are registered provides critical insights into their populations’ health and needs. This information also enables countries to measure their progress toward achieving many of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Robust civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are the roots of good governance, yet today 40% of deaths and 25% of births of children under age 5 are still not registered.
