1. Introduction to HERA

HERA eCRVS is an electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system developed by WCC which has 2 main purposes:

Registering vital events

The UN defines Civil Registration (CR) as the universal, continuous, permanent, and compulsory recording of vital events (e.g. births, deaths, marriages). This is of major importance to establish basic human rights and to provide individuals with a legal identity (including a free birth registration).

Recording Vital Statistics

It is important to note that the registration of vital events and the recording of statistics based on these vital events are two different things. This is illustrated in the diagram shown below. On the left-hand side, the registration of a vital event is shown (e.g. 'Live births', 'Deaths', 'Marriages'). As you move to the right in this diagram, these vital events are turned into statistics, typically for the National Bureau of Statistics for a country.

Data gathered through civil registration produce 'vital statistics' on population dynamics, health, inequities, etc. Governments can use these statistics as a basis for public health planning (for example, do we have to build new hospitals?), family planning, social service planning, economic planning, to track progress toward health goals, etc. Vital statistics allow accurate assessments of economic growth and poverty levels of a country and are a means of measuring global targets. For example, by providing key information on birth rates and health, a CRVS system can be used to enable effective immunization.