African digital CRVS Shared Asset initiative advances as collaborative framework is born
Published: 17/Apr/2024
Source: Biometric Update
By Ayang Macdonald
Efforts aimed at putting in place an integrated and harmonized digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e-CRVS) system that will accelerate birth registration in Africa under the African e-CRVS Shared Asset (ACSA) initiative, have got a forward push.
Coalition partners driving the project, today, announced a collaborative framework which will set the ACSA journey on the appropriate rails and define the path, moving ahead.
The partners include ID4Africa, the identity movement; OpenCRVS, the open source civil registration platform, and three development organizations namely UNICEF, UNECA and Vital Strategies, with each of them playing a distinct role, according to the joint announcement.
UNICEF, UNECA, and Vital Strategies will lead the normative aspect of ACSA, delineating standards and norms for developers to adhere to, with input from other seasoned CRVS IT system implementers, sates the announcement.
It adds that they will additionally create a mechanism to evaluate the suitability of existing digital solutions and facilitate the establishment of an advisory board comprising African nations – a board that will guide the initiative by offering technical and oversight support, ensuring alignment with Africa’s CRVS needs.
On its part, OpenCRVS will provide an open digital public good (DPG) implementation of ACSA in line with laid down norms, while ID4Africa will continue to provide support through its knowledge-sharing platforms, including the Annual General Meeting and LiveCasts.
The ACSA project was elaborately discussed during a Livecast last June to summarize a workshop of the 2023 ID4Africa General Meeting in Nairobi where the idea was first introduced.