Republic of Palau Allison Idip Sengebau Pacific

Transcript:Republic of Palau Allison Idip Sengebau Pacific:
Republic of Palau Allison Idip Sengebau Pacific Civil Registrars Meeting, Suva 2023 COUNTRY OVERVIEW Last census conducted – 2020, population 17,614. There were 213 births, 198 registered Cause of death from a medical certificate is provided for all deaths Vital statistics is based on actual data transmitted from the Ministry of Health and Human Services There is no vital statistics office in Palau. Birth/Death Certificates are transmitted to the Clerk of Courts for registration Office of Planning and Statistics conducts census and gets information directly from the Ministry of Health and Human Services There is no CRVS Committee in Palau E-registry and digitisation Palau uses a web based database system called JIS – Judiciary Information System. Data is stored in servers located in the Koror Complex and the Ngerulmud Complex. Data is backed up in a backup server in Ngerulmud. Data is also backed up on hard drives every other day. Judiciary maintain both paper and electronic records. Koror maintains current 2 years (2022 – 2023). Ngerulmud stores all other years. Current system not linked to any identity management (e.g. national ID), health sector, or other government IT systems but that is a goal. CRVS activities implemented during the last 3 years All birth records currently received are scanned and uploaded. Birth Certificate Project to scan and upload all previous birth certificates. Review all birth certificates to ensure data entry quality. Scan and upload all pertinent name change/adoption decrees. Check for duplicate records Current challenges Challenge #1 – Ensuring birth/death registration completeness: Some birth registrations don’t occur until child is of school age when birth certificate is required for educational purposes Birth/death registration dependent upon family members to complete forms at Ministry of Health and Human Services Medical Records Office There needs to be a more pro-active approach to obtaining information for birth/death certificate processing There needs to be a fixed timeline within which birth/death certificates are transmitted from the Ministry of Health to the Clerk of Courts Regulations and or legislation needed to improve process. Current Challenges Challenge #2 – Data quality and duplicate records: Ongoing work to review/reconcile paper records with data entry There is no consistency or law regarding last names used so individual can have many variations of name (either using family name or taking father’s first name as last name) People referred to by chief titles, children grew up thinking the title was their last