Declare a vital event
This functionality allows different types of agent to complete and submit a vital event registration application and attach supporting documentation for registration.
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ConfigurationThe OpenCRVS product allows you to configure the form fields as per your legal requirements, however the product does recommend a number of fields to be included based on global best practice. Content for SMS messages can be updated based on country requirements.
The form fields included in this version of the product reflect requirements from the Government of Zambia that were captured during development of the Zambian Proof of Concept.
Birth registration application
Child's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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First name(s) | Legal name | |
Last name | Legal name | |
Sex | Male, Female, Third Gender, Not Known | Understand the gender breakdown of births |
Date of birth | Understand when people are being born and establish legal age of child | |
Attendant at birth | Physician, Nurse, Midwife, Other paramedical personnel, Layperson, Traditional Birth Attendant, None, Other | Lends to an understanding of behaviours around pregnancy and birth as well as access to sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) that the mother received at birth |
Order of birth (number) | Lends to an understanding of family size and associated SRHS that need to be made available | |
Weight at birth (kg) | Lends to an understanding of the health of mothers and babies and what services are required to address this | |
Place of delivery | Health Institution, Private Home, Other | Lends to an understanding where births are happening which can inform communications campaigns and health service planning |
Mother's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
---|---|---|
Nationality | Dropdown of all countries | Can be used to inform child's claim to nationality |
National ID | Formally identify individual | |
Social Security No./NAPSA | Can be used to create familial links for multiple purposes | |
First name(s) | ||
Last name | ||
Date of birth | Lends to an understanding of the age of mothers that can inform appropriate SRHS | |
Marital Status | Lends to an understanding of the prevalence of single parent families and allows for planning of related services | |
Occupation | ||
Level of Education | Statistical aggregation allows for tailoring of sexual and reproductive health information based on level of education attained by mothers | |
What is her place of origin (heritage)? | ||
What is her residential address? | ||
Is her place of residence the same as her residential address? | Yes, No. If No, user is provided with new address field template |
Father's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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Do you have the Father's details? | Yes, No | To ensure that an application can be submitted without the Father's details, protecting the rights of the child |
Nationality | Dropdown of all countries | Can be used to inform child's claim to nationality |
National ID | Formally identify individual | |
Social Security No./NAPSA | Can be used to create familial links for multiple purposes | |
First name(s) | ||
Last name | ||
Date of birth | Lends to an understanding of the age of fathers that can inform appropriate services and communications | |
Marital Status | Lends to an understanding of the prevalence of single parent families and allows for planning of related services | |
Occupation | ||
Level of Education | Statistical aggregation allows for tailoring of sexual and reproductive health information based on level of education attained by mothers | |
His his place of origin (heritage) the same as the mother's? | ||
Is his residential address the same as his mother's? | Yes, No. If No, user is provided with new address field template |
Death registration application
Deceased's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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National ID | Formally identify individual | |
Social security no./NAPSA | Trigger the provision or ending of appropriate services | |
Nationality | All countries | |
First Name(s) | Legal name | |
Last name | Legal name | |
Date of birth | Understand age of the deceased to inform death statistics | |
Sex | Male, Female, Other, Unknown | Understand sex of deceased to inform death statistics |
Marital Status | Understand familial links and dependents for inheritance purposes | |
Occupation | ||
What was their residential address? | Country (default Zambia), Province, District, Urban address OR Rural address, Urban: Town Residential Area, Street / Plot Number, Number, Rural: Chief, Village | Understand where deaths are happening and identify patterns related to geographies |
Death details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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When did the death occur? | Enter the date as: day, month, year e.g. 24 10 2020 | Understand when deaths are occurring to inform analysis based on identified patterns |
What was the manner of death? | Natural causes, Accident, Suicide, Homicide, Manner undetermined | Understand how deaths are occurring to inform analysis based on identified patterns |
Where did the death occur? | Residential address of the deceased; Health Institution; Other address | Understand where deaths are occurring to inform appropriate service provision |
Has a Medically Certified Cause of Death been established? | Yes, No | |
If YES: What is the medically certified cause of death? | Underlying cause of death | Inform root cause analysis and appropriate service provision to address preventable causes of death |
Applicant's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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Nationality | Default - Zambia Dropdown of all countries | |
National ID | Formally identify individual | |
First name(s) | ||
Last name | ||
What is their residential address? | Country (default Zambia), Province, District, Urban address OR Rural address, Urban: Town Residential Area, Street / Plot Number, Number, Rural: Chief, Village |
Father's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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First Name(s) | ||
Last Name |
Mother's details
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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First Name(s) | ||
Last Name |
Attaching supporting documents
Field Name | Options | Reason for Capturing |
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Proof of deceased's ID | National ID (front) National ID (back) Birth registration certificate Passport | Legal requirement |
Proof of applicant's ID | National ID (front) National ID (back) Birth registration certificate Passport | Legal requirement |
Proof of death of deceased | Police brought in dead certificate Certified post mortem report Hospital discharge certificate Attested letter of death Attested certificate of death Certified copy of burial receipt Certified copy of funeral receipt Coroner's report Other | Legal requirement |
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User StoriesThe application form can be completed by different actors, on different devices, with different permissions.
As a Field Agent I want to complete a birth registration application and send it for review so that it can be registered by the Registrar.
As a Field Agent I want to be able to send an application "in-progress" (without all mandatory fields) so that there is a notification of the vital event in the system and the application can be completed at another point in time without replication of work effort.
As a Registration Agent I want to complete a birth registration application in an office setting and send it for approval and registration by the Registrar.
As a Registrar I want to complete a birth registration application and register the vital event.
As Any Type of Agent I want to be able to save a draft application so that I can complete it later on.
As Any Type of Agent I want to be able to complete a draft application so that I can send it for review/approval/register it.
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Functionality#
Start an applicationThe user can start the application from the homepage.
In order to ensure that the applicant understands why the event registration is important and what the end to end process is, the user is provided with an introductory page that encourages them to engage in dialogue with the applicant.

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Application & contact detailsBefore the application form is completed, the user is required to capture who is present for the application along with with a contact phone number to ensure that status updates can be provided throughout the application process. We ask who is there for the application to understand registration behaviors; this can be helpful when designing communication strategies related to civil registration e.g. if only Mother's are present, how can you engage fathers, and vice versa? An application can not be submitted before a contact number is provided.
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Complete the application formThe user is then taken through the application form (example included as per Zambian Proof of Concept).
Key features:
- Question-led application form
- All mandatory fields are clearly marked with a * so that users know which fields must be completed
- Validation of NID or Birth Registration Number (BRN) with respective system
- Auto-population of fields based on NID or BRN data
- Client-side data validation to ensure data quality
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Client-side data validation on form fieldsAll client-side validation is configurable. This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some examples of client side validation options.
Field Name | Data Validation Completed |
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Contact Number | - Is length of number valid? - Does number start with the right digits? |
Date of Birth (for child, mother & father) | - Numerical digits only - Cannot be a date in the future |
Name (in language) | - Is correct alphabet used e.g. if alternative alphabet is used like Bangla? |
Weight at birth | - Weight must be between 0-6 Kgs - Cannot be 0 |
Date of marriage | - Numerical digits only - Cannot be a date in the future |
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Attach supporting documentsThe user can attach supporting documents to the application. As per country requirements, all required supporting documents needed for the application are listed here.
- The user selects the type of document they are attaching from the drop down menu
- The user selects Add file and takes a photo of the document using the tablet/mobile device. If the user is office based, they can scan and upload the document.
- The user can preview the photo. If it is clear, they can continue. If it is not clear, they can Retake photo
- While the document is being uploaded, the user can see that it is being uploaded . Once the document is uploaded, the user can see a clickable and viewable link above the dropdown.
- Once the user has attached all documents, they progress to the next stage.
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Review the application before submissionBefore the application is submitted for review, the user needs to review the data that they have entered to ensure that it is correct.
If the user wants to change any of the information before submission, they can click "change" next to the relevant field. Once they select "change" they will be taken to the form field in the form that requires the update. After making the change, the user can navigate "Back to Review" from the bottom of the page where the field was changed. This prevents the user from navigating all the way back through the form.
Any mandatory field that has not been completed is highlighted clearly in red text so that the user knows that this information is missing.
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Submit the applicationThe end user can submit the application in two states:
- Complete application:

- In-progress application:

Low Connectivity Feature: if the user is offline, they can still submit the application and continue to do their work. They will see the application status in the Sent for Review workqueue with a status that informs them it submission is pending connectivity. Once the application has been sent, it will appear as sent with a green tick.
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Submit the applicationOn successful submission of the application, the Applicant will receive an SMS with the Tracking ID of the application and guidance on next steps.