Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Vanuatu and Samoa are working to produce vital statistics report based on civil registration data. A string of activities have supported the 5 countries since July last year. 

From July to September 2021, the Brisbane Accord Group (BAG), including ESCAP, SPC and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) organized an online course on data analysis and report writing for civil registration based vital statistics. In total 21 participants from the 5 countries joined the course, including representatives from Ministries of Health, Ministries of Justice, National Statistical Offices and others.

The course aimed to strengthen the capacity of countries in the analysis of administrative data generated form civil registration systems by assisting participants to build proficiency in key analytical, interpretation and presentation skills required to release data to be used for planning and policy review purposes. 

Following the completion of the online course, participating countries have further worked on the analysis of their data with support of the organizers. The objective is for the five countries to release their vital statistics reports in 2022.