(Freetown, 25 July 2019) The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) and partners have held one day validation workshop on the National Strategic Plan 2019-2024 on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) and Identity Management Systems at Shangri La, Beach Road, Lumley, Freetown.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy Director-General of NCRA, John Lavalie, welcomed participants and informed them that CRVS and Identity Management Systems is important to Sierra Leone and appealed to them to plan together in order to make NCRA realize its aims and objectives.
In her PowerPoint presentation of the National Strategic Plan, the National Consultant, Grace Harman, gave a background to the development, production and drafting of the document. She described it as a zero draft that required collective input from partners, service providers and other stakeholders to make the Strategic Plan a national document guiding the operations of NCRA from 2019 to 2024.
Grace Harman further explained the processes leading to the development and production of the draft National Strategic Plan. She said that the idea of a costed Strategic Plan was borne out the Comprehensive Country Assessment (CCA) that was conducted with support from different international partners such as UNICEF, EU, AU, APAI-CRVS, Plan International, UNDP, etc.
She added that African countries are committed to CRVS and Identity Management Systems and that the development of the National Strategic Plan was good for national development and to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as helping to achieve the goals of the Africa Programme for Accelerated Improvement (APAI) of Civil Registration.
The National Consultant further informed participants about the Vision and Mission of NCRA. She listed the thematic areas in the draft National Strategic Plan for discussion, which are: Legal and Policy Environment, an Integrated CRVS of Vital Events and ID Management System, Public Awareness Raising and Education, an Efficient and Functional ICT Infrastructure and a Competent CRVS Workforce.
In his closing remarks, the Director General of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi expressed optimism that NCRA and its partners will collectively implement the provisions in the National Strategic Plan to help in a better management and coordination of the CRVS Programmed in Sierra Leone.
“I am hopeful that the efforts we have put into this exercise we will own up to it and we will be able to collectively implement successfully,” he said.
He expressed hope that all stakeholders will work with NCRA in implementing the goals and objectives of the National Strategic Plan for CRVS and Identity Management Systems to succeed in Sierra Leone.
The Director-General of NCRA informed participants that the Strategic Plan is a public document that has been prepared through the active involvement of various stakeholders and partners.
He said that the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio will launch the Strategic Plan on Friday 9 August 2019.
Participants at the validation workshop had group discussions on the various themes and brainstormed on the strategic goals, objectives and activities of each theme to identify what was missing in the draft document.
The Director of Policy and Planning of NCRA, Mr. Aiah Lebbie Sosokoeneh and Mr. I.S. Kamara facilitated the Validation Workshop.
Representatives from various MDAs such as Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS), Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Office of Administrator and Registrar General (OARG), Ministry of Justice (MoJ), NASSIT, NRA, Statistics SL, NEC, Immigration, SLRSA, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Local Councils, EU Technical Team at NCRA, Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), Disability Commission, etc., participated in the Validation Workshop.
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