Skip to main content

From Cradle to Grave: How Civil Registration and Gender Data Impact the Rights of Women and Girls

Date
4 June 2019

The Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems, Data2X, and Open Data Watch hosted a side event during the 2019 Women Deliver conference in Vancouver to spark a thought-provoking conversation on why efforts to achieve gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights must include strengthening CRVS systems. The panel included speakers from Plan International Canada, World Vision Uganda, Vital Strategies, Open Data Watch and Data 2X.

Why was this event so important?

Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are critical for protecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and girls, such as voting rights; for facilitating access to health, education, credit and loans; and for understanding and preventing child marriage. Yet despite the importance of CRVS systems for women and children, many countries lack capacity to record vital events such as births, marriages, and death. Moreover, gendered barriers and inequalities in CRVS systems persist and are often overlooked.