Utilising Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) Approach to Analyse the Framing of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) System in Somalia

Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems are essential for effective governance, human rights protection, and development planning. In fragile contexts such as Somalia, CRVS reforms are promoted as pathways toward state-building and modernization. However, the framing of policy problems within these initiatives often reflects external donor logics and governance rationalities that obscure local realities. This paper applies Carol Bacchi’s “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) approach to critically examine how Somalia’s CRVS policy represents the “problem” of civil registration and what effects these representations produce. Drawing on publicly available government and donor policy documents between 2015 and 2024, the study interrogates the assumptions, silences, and implications of policy discourse surrounding CRVS reform. The analysis reveals that the CRVS policy constructs the “problem” primarily as a technical and administrative deficit emphasizing registration coverage, data accuracy, and institutional coordination while neglecting historical, political, and socio-cultural dimensions of identity documentation. This framing reinforces a depoliticized vision of governance aligned with global development agendas. The paper argues that a critical WPR lens exposes how such problem representations reproduce power asymmetries between international actors and local institutions, shaping who is recognized as a legitimate subject of governance. It concludes by suggesting more reflexive and contextually grounded approaches to policy framing in fragile and post-conflict settings.