LocationsFor almost a decade, UNDP and Switzerland, alongside the Government of Tajikistan, have been driving change in the country’s civil registration system, making it faster, inclusive, and more accessible. From paper to digital, since 2016, this partnership has helped modernize vital services that touch every citizen’s stage of life: from birth to marriage and beyond.
UNDP and Switzerland Celebrate a Decade of Partnership in Advancing Civil Registration Services in Tajikistan
July 22, 2025
A mother’s love captured in an AI-generated illustration, holding her baby and the birth certificate that secures their future.
AI-generated image created by UNDP Tajikistan
One of the most meaningful achievements of the Civil Registry Reform is the overall improvement in access to services, particularly for rural and previously underserved populations. In 2024, the project endline assessment revealed that financial barriers are among the top reasons for not registering vital events on time. For example, 12% of the population found the cost of the birth certificate procedure expensive.
To address this issue, the Ministry made the birth registration, along with adoption and death registrations, completely free of charge effective from 28 February 2025, so that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can secure their legal identity.
Mijgona, a single mother from Rudaki district, feels this change deeply. After the loss of her husband, life became an uphill battle. Without education or a steady income, she simply couldn’t afford the fees to obtain birth certificates for her three children. The worry that her children might grow up without an official identity weighed on her every day.
"For years, I was worried that my children would be invisible to the world without their birth certificates," Mijgona says. "I believe I am not the only single mother who can now give her children a name, access to education, and a future. This is more than paper — it is hope and dignity for our family."
It became possible thanks to the Government order issued on February 28, 2025, which removed these fees. Mijgona was finally able to receive legal birth certificates for her children. This simple yet profound step brought her family protection, dignity, and hope for the future.
"My children, just like any other children, have dreams. Because of this reform, many doors are opening for their future," Mijgona shares with a smile.
The civil registration reform in Tajikistan is much more than modernized records or improved offices. It reflects a deeper shift in how the state recognizes, supports, and protects its people.
Over the past ten years, the partnership between Switzerland and Tajikistan has helped provide legal identity to millions, build public trust, and strengthen institutions. By addressing both technical and social barriers, this partnership has created a strong foundation for continued reform, ensuring that every citizen’s life events are officially recognized and safeguarded
The infographic showcases the 2024 SDC endline assessment, highlighting the increase in citizen satisfaction with civil registration services—from 48% in 2016 to 86% in 2024.
Mufiza Kenjaeva, UNDP Tajikistan
What is legal identity, and why does it matter?
Article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to be recognized as a person before the law. Building on this fundamental principle, Sustainable Development Goal Target 16.9 aims to provide “legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.”
Without legal identity, individuals remain invisible to the state, unable to prove who they are or access vital services such as education and healthcare. Despite global commitments, hundreds of millions of people around the world — many of them children — still lack official recognition. At the core of this issue is the birth certificate: a simple yet powerful document that unlocks rights, protection, and opportunities for a better future.
How Modernization and Digitalization Took Root
In Tajikistan, civil registration is overseen by the Ministry of Justice and includes seven vital life events: birth, adoption, paternity establishment, marriage, change of name or surname, divorce, and death. Recognizing the importance of modernizing this system, the Government of Switzerland, through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is partnering with UNDP and the Ministry of Justice to support the civil registration reform initiative in 2016.
At that time, a baseline study revealed that the civil registration system was largely paper-based. Nearly 30 million paper records were stored under vulnerable conditions, highly exposed to damage by fire, flooding, or other disasters. Financial barriers and repeated visits discouraged citizens from engaging with the system. And crucially, birth registration rates for children under two lagged behind national targets.
In its first 3 years (2016-2019), the project, with a budget of USD 6 million, focused on three strategic areas: 1) strengthening legal and policy frameworks, 2) enhancing institutional capacity, and 3) raising public awareness. Some of the most transformative outcomes included:
- Making birth registration free of charge within the first three months of a child’s life.
- Rolling out CROIS2, a digital civil registration information system, to improve data accuracy.
- Launching an Archive Management System and piloting the digitalization of 188,000 archive records.
- Distributing essential digital equipment (laptops, modems, routers, printers) to more than a third of all civil registry offices.
- Reaching 59% of the population with awareness campaigns via SMS, media, mobile consultations, and traditional theatre.
The awareness-raising campaigns reached Mijgona as well, helping her understand the importance of registering her children, giving them a chance to be seen, protected, and included.
A grandfather came to one of the Civil Registry offices in Dushanbe to obtain a birth certificate for his grandson.
Mufiza Kenjaeva/ UNDP Tajikistan
Building on Early Success
Building on early success, the Government of Switzerland, UNDP, and the Ministry of Justice launched the second phase of the project in 2019 with a broader vision and a budget of USD 8 million. This new phase (2019-2025) not only deepened digital transformation but also brought in key partners, including the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and the Agency for Innovation and Digital Technologies.
The reform matured—from digitalization of records to full interoperability and community outreach. Milestones include:
- A major legal shift in 2024 amended the Civil Registration Law to introduce unique ID numbers for every child—linking civil registration to education, health, and social protection systems.
- A national roadmap: A new mid-term programme with an action plan (2024–2029) was developed to guide future development of the CR system.
- Infrastructure for inclusion: 40 registry offices to be equipped with solar panels to ensure uninterrupted service in remote areas. 16 to be fully redesigned to follow a front-and-back office model. Over USD 488,000 worth of ICT equipment was provided to the Ministry of Justice for digitizing archives and upgrading remote offices.
- Capacity building at scale: More than 300 civil registration professionals were trained in ICT, service delivery, and use of the CROIS system. Peer exchange visits to Turkey, Moldova, and Uzbekistan further enhanced learning.
- No one left behind: Four mobile registration units travelled across 35 remote districts, delivering services to people in the most remote corners and issuing over 800 certificates.
- Public awareness at national scale: Between 2019 and 2024, awareness campaigns reached over 9 million people via SMS and TV, 2.5 million via radio, and nearly 1 million in person. The Ministry’s website was redesigned as a one-stop hub for official registration information.
- Towards a connected future: The civil registration information system (CROIS)—established with Swiss support—laid the groundwork for a fully interoperable Civil Registration Portal, which is currently under development by the EU in 2025. The new system connects with databases across the Ministry of Health and other state agencies, enabling seamless data exchange and cross-sector coordination.
A modernised Civil Registry office in Norak, southern Tajikistan.
Mufiza Kenjaeva/ UNDP Tajikistan
Legal identity has now become a reality for millions of people. Thanks to sustained investment, human-centered design, and inclusive outreach, the civil registration system is no longer just a service—it is a gateway to opportunity and protection.
About the project
Launched as a joint initiative of the Government of Switzerland, UNDP, and the Ministry of Justice, the Civil Registry Reform Project has made civil registration more accessible, inclusive, and efficient, laying the foundation for legal identity for all. The long-standing partnership and financial support from the Swiss Government have been instrumental in advancing this ambitious reform, enabling the modernization of a critical public service and making it more accessible to people across Tajikistan, including those in the most remote communities.
Media inquiries: Nigora Fazliddin, Communications Analyst, UNDP Tajikistan – nigorai.fazliddin@undp.org
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