The report of inequalities in birth registration in Samoa highlights several key findings:
- Children under one year have the lowest registration rates.
- Geographical disparities: Children in remote districts and on the island of Savai’i are less likely to be registered.
- Socioeconomic factors: Lower registration rates are associated with mothers having lower educational attainment and families in the lowest wealth quintile.
- Other factors: No significant impact was found for the child’s sex, religion, household head’s sex or education, child’s disability status, or whether parents live with the child.
This report suggests several interventions to improve birth registration rates, such as economic incentives, better coordination with birthing centers, partnerships with community organizations, mobile registration services, and improving the registration system’s infrastructure.
This kind of assessment is vital for identifying and addressing disparities in civil registration systems, ensuring that all individuals are included and can access their rights and benefits.Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health InitiativeEXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................... vi 1 BACKGROUND..........................................................................................................................................................1 2 THE SAMOA CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM .............3 Management of notification of births ...........................................................................................................4 Community births and deaths ..........................................................................................................................7 The Life Data System ...........................................................................................................................................7 3 METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................................... 10 Using census data to estimate births ........................................................................................................ 10 Variables assessed for birth registration completeness and their limitations........................ 13 Death registration completeness................................................................................................................. 14 4 RESULTS..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Factors associated with inequalities in birth registration................................................................. 16 Child’s age ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Region and district of residence........................................................................................................ 17 Wealth quintile ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Mother’s education .................................................................................................................................. 21 Factors with lesser impacts on birth registration completeness .................................................. 22 Sex of the child.......................................................................................................................................... 22 Mother’s age............................................................................................................................................... 23 Religion......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Sex and education level of head of household ............................................................................. 35 Child’s disability status........................................................................................................................... 37 Parents residing in the household ..................................................................................................... 38 5 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING BIRTH REGISTRATION..39 6 NEXT STEPS FOR INVESTIGATING INEQUALITIES IN BIRTH AND DEATH REGISTRATION.............................................................................................................................. 41 7 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................43 8 ANNEX 1: SAMOA CRVS STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................4
