Background & goals
1. Introduction
This page describes the civil registration context in Farajaland and the goals of the Civil Registration Authority (CRA). It explains why Farajaland needs a digital CRVS system and what OpenCRVS is expected to achieve.
2. Civil registration in Farajaland today
The Civil Registration Authority (CRA) has the legal mandate to register all births and deaths in Farajaland, as defined in the Births and Deaths Registration Act, last amended in 2021. Key characteristics of the current system:
2.1 Legal framework
The Births and Deaths Registration Act of 2021 recognises electronic civil registration processes, including:
Electronic signatures.
Electronic storage of vital event records.
The law provides a basis for digitising registration, but implementation is still in transition.
2.2 Institutional setup
The CRA is headed by the Registrar General, who has overall accountability for civil registration in Farajaland.
The CRA’s Headquarters (HQ) is based in Isamba District.
HQ includes several key roles, such as:
Operations Manager – responsible for service delivery and performance.
National System Administrator – responsible for managing the OpenCRVS platform and integrations.
2.3 Decentralised service delivery
Civil registration is administered at the District level.
There is a Civil Registration Office in each of the 16 districts.
In each district office:
A Local Registrar is responsible for formally registering vital events and issuing certificates.
2–3 Registration Officers support day‑to‑day operations.
A number of Community Leaders have a formal role in notifying vital events in the community.
2.4 Health–CRVS collaboration
There is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the CRA and the Ministry of Health.
The MoU sets out how health and civil registration systems are integrated, so that:
Births and deaths captured electronically in hospitals and health facilities can be shared digitally with the Civil Registration Office.
A Hospital Clerk can declare births and deaths directly in OpenCRVS.
2.5 Historical reliance on paper
Until recently, Farajaland relied heavily on manual, paper‑based processes.
As a result:
Completeness rates (registration within 1 year of event) are low:
~40% for births.
~15% for deaths.
Data quality is poor, with many duplicate entries in the civil registry.
The customer experience is weak:
Families often have to visit the Civil Registration Office multiple times.
Registration is time‑consuming and expensive, especially for rural households.
3. Strategic goals for 2026
In 2021, the CRA developed a CRVS National Strategic Plan. This plan defines a number of strategic goals to be achieved by 2026.
Headline goals include:
90% completeness for both birth and death registration (within the legally defined timeframe).
95% certification rate for both birth and death registration.
A fully digitised and searchable civil registration archive containing all historical records of births and deaths in Farajaland.
Increased efficiency of civil registration staff.
Improved quality of vital events data.
Increased value of CRVS data through interoperability and safe data sharing with:
Foundational ID systems.
Health information systems.
The National Bureau of Statistics.
Improved cost‑effectiveness of civil registration service delivery.
Better customer experience, including:
Reduced time taken to register events.
Reduced number of visits required.
Reduced out‑of‑pocket costs for families.
These goals set the direction for how Farajaland configures OpenCRVS.
4. Strategies to reach these goals
To achieve the strategic goals, the CRA is implementing a combination of policy, process, and technology changes. OpenCRVS is one of the key enablers. Core strategies include:
4.1 Digitally enabled service delivery models
Deploy new models that bring registration services closer to the community, for example:
Community‑based notifications and declarations via Community Leaders and Mobile Registration Agents.
Facility‑based capture of events at hospitals and health centres.
District office registration supported by better case management.
4.2 Improved data quality and duplicate reduction
Use automated validation and duplicate detection to reduce multiple registrations for the same person.
Apply business rules and flags to ensure cases that look suspicious are reviewed by a Registrar.
4.3 Performance management and monitoring
Use dashboards and reports to identify poor‑performing areas (for example, districts with low completeness or high late registration rates).
Implement remediation measures, such as targeted outreach or additional training.
4.4 Automation of manual steps
Automate repetitive and time‑consuming registration steps, such as:
Generating tracking numbers and registration numbers.
Producing certificates and certified copies.
Notifying other systems when records are registered, corrected, or revoked.
4.5 Digitisation of historical records
Digitise paper archives of past births and deaths.
Make them searchable in OpenCRVS and link them to current records where relevant.
4.6Interoperability and data sharing
Ensure that vital events data can be safely shared with other systems (Foundational ID, health, statistics), in line with policy and privacy requirements.
5. Role of OpenCRVS in Farajaland
OpenCRVS is implemented in Farajaland as part of a broader digital transformation programme led by the CRA. The CRA has invested in the necessary infrastructure and connectivity at District Registration Offices, which now have stable broadband service.
In the Farajaland configuration, OpenCRVS is used to:
Support end‑to‑end workflows for birth and death registration (declaration, validation, registration, printing, corrections, revocations).
Implement the Farajaland business rules described on the companion page (who can declare, who approves, how late registrations and corrections are governed, etc.).
Provide a realistic example of how a country can move from paper‑based CRVS to a modern, digital, interoperable system.
When using Farajaland as a reference, this page provides the context and rationale, while other pages (Farajaland business rules, Users in Farajaland, Actions, Status, Flags, Workqueues, Certificates) show the concrete configuration that implements these goals.
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