18-11-12
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| Woyongo delivering a speech on behalf of the Sector Minister |
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| Some registration officers in action |
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| School children portraying the essence of birth registration |
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| Section dignitaries present at the event |
A national durbar to
commemorate the 9th Births and Deaths Registration Day celebration has taken
place at Bolgatanga with a call on parents to seek early birth registration as
a starting point in providing a credible identification system for the country.
Additionally, parents should request for birth certificates for their children,
bearing in mind that failure to get their wards registered mean denying them their
rights to their nationality. Therefore early registration should be a matter of
priority to parents since the constitution mandates the immediate registration
of all children right after birth. The Minister for Local Government and Rural
Development, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who made the call in a speech read on his
behalf, reminded the public that registration for all children before their
first birthday was free and compulsory. He again reminded parents to report any
event of a birth or a death to the nearest registration office or a
registration volunteer for immediate documentation. Adherence, he however noted
would help facilitate the country’s development planning processes based on
reliable data on the number of births and deaths registered daily. He made it known that his ministry was
working tirelessly to revamp and strengthen the Birth and death Registry and
would ensure that it delivers on its mandate to enable it generate timely and
reliable statistical measurements on the country’s, which he believes, would go
a long way to help achieve a universal registration of birth and deaths. He was
optimistic that with the support and cooperation of individuals and
stakeholders, the country was poised to achieving the projected 70 percent
birth registration coverage by 2012. He said credible report released during
last year’s durbar gave the rate of registration coverage at 65 percent for
births, though death registration coverage was still hovering around 24
percent, adding that with further improvement the country was bent on reaching
its projected target. Mr. Ampofo
therefore entreated all to attach seriousness on the issue of death
registration, calling on all to discourage the practice since it has telling
effect on health issues affecting the environment, particularly indiscriminate internment of
human bodies. Speaking to Radio Ghana, an official from the Birth and Death
Registry in charge of Information and Data Collection, Emmanuel Botchway said
the choice for this year’s theme which is “Birth and Death Registration, a Starting
Point for a Credible Identification System”, stem from the fact that most
Ghanaians, particularly, majority of rural folks are without birth registration
with many having conflicting data information on their identity cards. The aim
of the durbar was to therefore create the awareness on the relevance of early
registration of birth and death. He commended Plan Ghana, UNICEF and other
collaborators for the support over the years and called the public to complement
their effort by helping to propagate the essence of birth registration. A Mass registration exercise was conducted to
afford parents the opportunity to register their children.
GBC
END
IA/
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