Dili, 23rd December 2015 - The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) donated thirteen motorcycles to Civil Registration for Vital Statistic (CRVS) of the National Statistic Department (NSD).

 

In a ceremony held at the office of the General Directorate of Statistic (GDS), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) handed over 13 motorcycles to support Civil Registration  and  Vital Statistic's (CRVS) work in 13 municipalities across the country. The CRVS in Timor-Leste is universal coverage and it captures vital events occurring in every geographical and every population group from villages, Administrative Post, , Municipalities  and national level, such as data on live births, deaths, fatal death (first priority), marriages, divorces (second priority) annulment, judicial separation. UNFPA support to GDS is in-line with five year Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP)" to support implementation of the Asia Regional Action Framework for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics".

Mr. Secondinho Salsinha, Interim UNFPA's Representative, remarked that  "UNPFA Timor-Leste country office has been supporting GDS since its establishment on three consecutive censuses, (2004, 2010, and recent one 2015), CRVS, technical assistance through on-going capacity building to NSD's staff and producing and printing of various reports and materials. We look forward to our continued support in the coming years.

Mr. Antonio Freitas, General Director (GD) of Statistic Department stated that "UNFPA has been supporting the NSD since its establishment. Statistic is center for development. Next year, our theme will be Statistic for Development and Developed Statistic. Developed statistic means not only do we develop on infrastructure areas but also non-infrastructure areas. For the time being, the country has a five year census, and in 2020, the country will shift to a ten year census. Thus, the Civil Registration for Vital Statistic (CRVS) is an important program and it will replace the census cycles. This means we need a strong vital statistic as secondary data covers administrative data from villages, sub-districts, districts and national level to support and strengthen our development process. In 2016, the NSD will conduct its second Demographic Health Survey (DHS) on health areas to update information on progress in nutrition, mortality, fertility and other components areas. In regard to Post 2015 Agenda, the GDS will approach respective each agency to harmonize Post Agenda's indicators aligned with national indicators, such as on health, education, genders and other areas. Before ending his remark, Mr. Freitas reminded to his staff to use the motorcycles with responsibility.  On behalf of NSD team, he thanked UNFPA for its continued support, specifically to the CRVS program and look forward to our future collaboration."

After the short remark, it followed by signing of hand over documents between UNFPA and NSD and verification of motorcycles. There was also a short courtesy visit to see how the census's data entry