Systematic registration of vital and civil events, such as birth, death, causes of death, marriage and divorce, is critical for improving maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. Integrated into existing health information systems, these statistics become valuable evidence, giving policymakers and practitioners the knowledge they need to review the circumstances leading to each maternal and child death, identify preventable factors, and take action where needed. However, such crucial information systems are lacking in many countries. It is estimated that one-third of the world's births and two-thirds of the world's deaths are not registered or are incorrectly certified. Where global norms, standards, tools, and promising practices exist, they are not readily accessible and useable to those who need them most. Funded by Global Affairs Canada and IDRC, and housed at IDRC, the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration of Vital Statistics (CRVS) Systems will link knowledge seekers with information, tools, and expertise to facilitate the development and implementation of integrated CRVS systems. The Centre of Excellence will coordinate with existing expert groups to generate, consolidate, and disseminate information, including by developing an open-access electronic platform to make key resources readily accessible. It will facilitate exchange of good practices and capacity strengthening, and will play an important role in brokering technical assistance for countries needing more direct support. The Centre of Excellence will work closely with the Global Financing Facility in support of the Every Woman Every Child initiative to enable the development and implementation of CRVS systems plans as part of country-led investment cases for Global Financing Facility financing. This project will allow the Centre of Excellence to organize workshops, capacity-building events, seminars, conferences, and roundtables that bring together global and regional experts and stakeholders with a view to advancing the development and implementation of CRVS systems. It will support the organization of events (e.g. venues, logistics, etc.), participant attendance (e.g. airfare, accommodation, per diems, and incidentals for practitioners, experts, and institutions) from countries that are developing investment cases for Global Financing Facility financing, as well as from regional and/or global organizations where appropriate. Activities will serve to improve coordination and cooperation among global, regional, and country-level stakeholders, in addition to facilitating knowledge-sharing and best practices within and across regions.