Nigeria

UNICEF Nigeria, in partnership with the National Population Commission, conducted phase 1 of a CRVS digital transformation programme, intended to define and test new digitally enabled service delivery models (SDMs) that have the potential to significantly increase the birth registration completeness rate in Nigeria. The four models identified were:

1. Birth registration at the LGA NPC Registration Office
2. Birth registration at immunisation clinics (health facility and outreach)
3. Birth registration drives
4. Community-based birth declaration

OpenCRVS was used to digitally enable the models above. The system was configured and customised to meet Nigeria’s legal and contextual needs, including specific functionality requested by NPC to meet business needs:

• A digital B1 Form, including the capture of supporting documents and the informant’s digital signature.
• Birth declarations captured by volunteers on registration drives and at the community level by traditional leaders.
• A deduplication algorithm to avoid registration of the same birth more than once.
• Quality review and approval by the DCRs before registration is complete.
• Security and audit features to prevent fraudulent registrations.
• Performance management dashboard to facilitate management decision making.

The eCRVS system was tested under field conditions at selected test sites in Nasarawa, Lagos, Kano, Borno, Cross River and Enugu States to assess its applicability for wider rollout and scaleup. Although the scale of the testing was small, OpenCRVS was well appreciated by NPC staff working at the LGA level as it was easy to learn and use and helped them conduct their registration duties efficiently. Technically the eCRVS system was certified by NITDA and by the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau.