A technical workshop aimed at upgrading the skills of registrars from some targeted councils has been organized on June 13, 2023, in Kribi, South region.

In line with the series of workshops launched by the Support Program for the Modernization of Cameroon’s Civil Status Registry known by its French acronym as PAMEC II, another cohort of registrars has been trained on IT skills with a focus on the OpenCRVS digitalization system.

The participants who are registrars from the Tiko, Bafoussam II, Kribi I, Buea, Limbe, and Dschang councils took an active part in this technical workshop that enters within the framework of the pre-deployment of the PAMEC II.

Participants at this workshop were drilled on some relevant issues with regard to the OpenCRVS system that is on: the secure connection mode with several control factors; the procedure to undertake while registering a birth or death declaration; registering a marriage; securing the printing process for birth, marriage and death certificates and the process of assigning a registration to an agent.

During the workshop, the different roles played daily by secretaries and civil registrars were divided between the participants so as to upskill the participants on the data flow process which kicks off at the level of the declaration and ends up at the stage of delivery records.

At the end of the practical sessions carried out by participants, observations and questions were raised up to enable technical teams to provide clarifications or take into account the changes that could be incorporated into future versions of this digital system.

Participants at this training workshop equally appreciated the substantial added value that the OpenCRVS system will bring to the modernization of the civil status registry in Cameroon.

Understanding the OpenCRVS digitalization system

OpenCRVS is an open-source global digital solution for civil registration, designed specifically for low-resource settings and available as a Digital Public Good.

A Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system records the details of all major life events, such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. It is an essential component of the « leave no one behind » agenda and without it working effectively, it is virtually impossible to ensure inclusive growth.

Co-financed by the Korean cooperation KOICA and GIZ, the digitalization component of the Support Program for the Modernization of Cameroon’s Civil Status Registry, PAMEC II was launched in September 2022 by the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development, MINDDEVEL with the key objective of digitalizing civil status registry in some 20 pilot councils, notably in the North, West, South-West and South region s of the country.

Elise Kenimbeni