National Consultant in CRVS (Civil Registration and Vital Statistics)

CONSULTANCY NOTICE

(Open to national candidates)

1. General background:

The lack of legal identity has wide implication in migration and mobility. Further to being impeded from effectively accessing their rights and corresponding services, people without legal identity will be unable to migrate safely to most, if not all, foreign countries. This global identity gap is acknowledged in the 2030 Agenda, which established a specific target within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Target 16.9 – “legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030”. In line with IOM’s Strategic Vision and with universal access to legal identity as key to reducing inequalities and an enabler of sustainable development and protection for people on the move, IOM’s Institutional Strategy on Legal Identity serves as a roadmap to support Member States advancing universal access to legal identity and documentation.

The civil registration system in Viet Nam is primarily organized by the Ministry of Justice at national level, which then coordinates with its offices at Provincial, District and Commune level, each time in collaboration with the local People’s Committee. At commune level, this organization relies on the community and Village workers. Each of the levels helps with Civil registration management and production of Vital statistics[1].

In November 2014, the National Assembly adopted Law on Civil registration which is the highest legal document regulating civil registration. A decision of the Minister of Justice on the project “National electronic civil status database” (2015) created the e-Civil registration database (e-CRD), which started to be implemented in 2016, at first in a few provinces and progressively spread. This digitalization makes it easier to produce timely and accurate Vital statistics. A National Action Programme on CRVS for the period of 2017 – 2024 was adopted, proclaiming different goals aligned with the Regional Action Framework on CRVS in Asia and the Pacific, such as to ensure complete, accurate and legitimate civil registration and vital statistics, to ensure that everyone is provided with legal documentation and to create a more consistent coordination mechanism among related sectors.

According to the 2014 Law on Citizen Identification, Vietnamese citizens aged full 14 years or older are eligible for grant of ID cards issued by the Ministry of Public Security. Citizen identity card is a personal paper of a Vietnamese citizen which proves citizen identification of the card holder for conducting transactions in the Vietnamese territory.

Vietnamese passports are issued to citizens of Vietnam to facilitate international travel. They enable the bearer to exit and re-enter Vietnam freely; to travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements, and secure assistance from Vietnamese consular officials when abroad, if necessary. All Vietnamese passports are issued by the Department of Immigration on behalf of the Ministry of Public Security. Only Vietnamese citizens are eligible for this passport. The passport is valid for ten years. By law, a valid unexpired Vietnamese passport is conclusive proof of Vietnamese citizenship, and therefore can be used in lieu of a National ID card for identification (such as flying within Viet Nam) domestically.

In order to assess the current system and procedural aspects of civil registration and legal identity of Viet Nam to identify areas where support could be provided under IOM’s Institutional Strategy on Legal Identity and in the framework of the IOM RELICA Global Programme: enhancing readmission and legal identity capacities, IOM is seeking to engage a Consultant (CRVS and Legal Identity) (hereafter Consultant). 

2. Objective of the consultancy:

The objective of the consultancy is to review Viet Nam’s civil registration and vital statistics and legal identity system and their practices to provide an in depth understanding as well as gaps and challenges of the system.

3. Scope of work:

The consultant will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of the current Viet Nam’s civil registration and vital statistics and legal identity system as well as their practices. The Task includes the following activities:

1. Carry out a desk review of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) and Legal Identity of Viet Nam including relevant information and current practices at different levels (as applicable and in the measure agreed with the Government of Viet Nam, from a technical (document integrity and security), operational (registration, data collection/sharing, issuance, removal), institutional (governmental entities and level of cooperation/interactions), legal (data protection), and digital (digitization, digitalization and digital transformation) perspective);  
2. Develop/review the CRVS department table of organization (including gaps and needs if possible);
3. Conduct interviews with relevant authorities/agencies or officials working in CRVS system or legal identity management and issuance of identity papers, with focus on issuance of national passport for Vietnamese citizens who are stranded overseas without available identity paper, to identify gaps and challenges in this area;
4. Review current procedures and requirements for civil registration and issuance of all relevant identity papers and provide flow charts/descriptive of these processes;
5. Prepare a final comprehensive report presenting the current CRVS and legal identity of Viet Nam including current practices, identified gaps and challenges, and recommendations.

4. Delivery dates and details as to how the work must be delivered.

The consultancy work is intermittent from May 2023 to July 2023.

5. Required Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in a field of study related to Humanitarian Law, International Law, Human Rights or a related field from an accredited academic institution with relevant professional experience.
  

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 7-10 (ten) years relevant work experience in CRVS and legal Identity or related administrative legislation;
• Prior work experience with and/or providing technical assistance to an international organization is an asset;
• Previous work experience related to research/desk review;
• Strong and demonstrable knowledge in international standards of CRVS;
• Excellent writing, communication, negotiation and analytical skills;
• Ability to prepare clear and concise reports;
• Good level of computer literacy.

Desirable

• Understanding migration situation, especially international migration of Viet Nam;
• Experience in working with the Vietnamese government system;
• Understanding on gender issues in migration and gender analysis.

How to apply: 

Completed applications, including cover letter, CV and copies of diplomas and certificates may be delivered to the IOM Mission Office in Hanoi at 304 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi or submitted electronically to [email protected] referring to this Consultancy Notice’s Position Title.  

Applications are non-returnable and only short-listed candidates will be contacted. 

Female consultants are encouraged to bid for this required service. Preference will be given to equally technically qualified female consultants.

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