2026 Annual Expert Group Meeting for Registrars General (EGMRG)

Held from 17-21 July 2026 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, the Annual Expert Group Meeting for Registrars General (EGMRG) brought together119 participants representing civil registrar generals’ offices of 37 African Countries. Organized by UNECA, the secretariat of the Africa Programme for Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS) in partnership with members of the Core group, the meeting reviewed progress and lessons learnt from the APAI-CRVS Strategic Plan 2023-2027,  tried to take stoke on status of implementation of COM5 resolutions by Member States, introduced the finalized outputs of the African e-CRVS Shared Asset (ACSA) initiative as a continental resource package,  and set the Agenda for a new CRVS decade with unified, practical, and country-owned action plan, centered on the three proven accelerators of Integration, Decentralization, and Digitalization. The meeting also reaffirmed CRVS as a core pathway toward universal legal identity and stronger vital statistics. 

The meeting discussed on status of Implementing COM5 and Malabo 2025 Recommendations, adopted the ACSA framework and its governance, consolidated recommendations for the New CRVS Decade (2026-2036) to ensure the future of CRVS in Africa, came up with a set of updated recommendations on how to strengthen legislation and operational procedures for the universal registration of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, with a particular emphasis on cause-of-death reporting.  Also agreed on the necessity of a renewed declaration from Registrar Generals and their Ministers reaffirming the political commitment to the new CRVS decade, including a call for sustained domestic resource mobilization and calls for sustained political and financial investment. Zimbabwe committed to host the 6th Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration (COM6).  

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