guide accelerated improvement in the systems in all countries. The concept of the road map has now become a regional programme known as the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (Africa Programme). During the first session of the Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration 5 in August 2010, the ministers established the Africa Programme. The policy directives of the Conference of African Ministers guides the Africa Programme, and it is steered by a regional civil registration and vital statistics secretariat based at ECA and a partnership of the lead panAfrican organizations, agencies of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations that form the Africa civil registration and vital statistics Core Group (Core Group). The Africa Programme has completed its fifth year of implementation and has made significant progress in building the capacity of civil registration and vital statistics functionaries, promoting coordination among core actors (mainly statistics offices, civil registration offices and the health sector) and harnessing political commitment for improvement in the systems at the highest level of Governments through the ministerial platform. The Africa Programme has also made progress in promoting knowledge and the sharing of experiences between countries with underdeveloped and more developed systems. In addition, it has significantly contributed to the global momentum for an improvement in civil registration and vital statistics systems, an agenda that was earlier referred to as “the most critical development failure” and a “donor orphan”, given the past years of failure. Approximately half the countries on the continent have now completed comprehensive assessments of their systems and a significantly large proportion are in the process of developing civil registration and vital statistics strategies and action plans on the basis of the findings of the comprehensive assessments. There are increasing demands from countries for technical assistance and guidance in the assessment and planning processes and an improvement in the management and operation of various aspects of their systems. The decision of Heads of States and Government in June 2016 to declare 2017–2026 as the decade for repositioning civil registration and vital statistics in Africa’s continental, regional and national development agenda underpins the need for a comprehensive work plan for the decade. In addition, it supports the need to restrategize the frameworks and methodologies for the coming phase of implementation of statistics systems. The priority for the Africa Programme now shifts from the preparatory phase of intensive advocacy and communication and planning conducted since the inception of the Programme in 2010, to rigorous capacity development efforts specific to country demands. The civil registration and vital statistics secretariat and Core Group have to gear up to meet these demands in a harmonized, coordinated and systematic way. The present document provides the framework for the implementation of the Africa Programme by defining the priorities for the region, setting the time frames for various actions and establishing the human and financial resource requirements. The Programme’s work plan covers the first half of the African civil registration and vital statistics decade, ending with an evaluation to determine the priorities for the coming phase of implementation. 5 The Conference of African Ministers, institutionalized as a standing forum of the African Union Commission, convenes every two years. 2