Preparation & Foundation

Desktop research and planning before any fieldwork

Purpose

The primary purpose of this foundational stage is to systematically build a comprehensive and practical knowledge base regarding the country's civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) context before any fieldwork.

This preparatory work is essential to ensure that subsequent Field Research & Discovery activities are targeted, efficient, and well-informed, minimising time spent on basic discovery while maximising valuable interaction with local stakeholders.

Objectives

1. Comprehensive contextual understanding: thoroughly grasp the country's existing CRVS legal, regulatory, and procedural landscape, including historical context, current challenges, and government priorities.

2. Detailed process and documentation inventory: collect and analyse all relevant official documents, including legal frameworks, registration forms for all vital events, and samples of official certificates.

3. Refined fieldwork execution plan: a complete, ready-to-execute fieldwork plan, including logistics, specific objectives for meetings/workshops, and tailored discussion guides for diverse stakeholders (e.g., Justice/Health Ministries, local registrars).

Key outputs

Business analysis inputs and collection of existing materials

Relevant legal and regulatory frameworks: collect the primary national laws governing civil registration (e.g., Civil Code, Vital Statistics Act) and any subsidiary legislation, ministerial decrees, regulations, and circulars that prescribe specific procedures, responsibilities, and timelines for vital event registration must be identified, located, and collected. The goal of this collection and analysis is to map the mandatory requirements, institutional mandates, and jurisdictional responsibilities for CRVS operations.

Existing vital events forms: source the official blank forms currently used by citizens or institutions (e.g., health facilities) to report and register all primary vital events (live birth, death, marriage, and potentially others like divorce or adoption) to understand the specific data elements collected, the sequencing of information, and the user-friendliness/complexity of the current forms.

Vital event certificates: obtain current, official samples (or high-quality facsimiles) of the certificates issued to the public (e.g., official Birth Certificate, Death Certificate) to analyze their security features, the data presented to the citizen, and to compare the information on the source forms versus the final certificate.

Existing business process maps / Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs): secure official documentation (flowcharts, manuals, SoPs) detailing the current vital event registration workflow, which will be used to establish a preliminary "as-is" process map, identifying key steps, actors, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies for later fieldwork validation.

Field research plan

Detailed discovery plan and schedule: develop a structured itinerary for qualitative research, clearly defining specific dates, locations (e.g., central registry office, regional offices, health facilities), and personnel to be met, while also setting clear, measurable objectives for each day and site visit based on the gaps identified in the document analysis.

Tailored discussion guides: refine generic discussion guides by integrating country-specific terminology, legal references, and specific questions derived from the analysis of collected laws, forms, and processes, and create tailored guides for different audiences such as policymakers, registrars, healthcare professionals, and IT specialists.

Workshop logistics & materials: finalise logistical arrangements for any planned workshops, including venue booking, participant invitations, and necessary equipment, and prepare all materials such as presentations, pre-populated process maps for validation, and printouts of key documents for collaborative review with local counterparts.