Is Birth registration a Necessity or Luxury?
Birth registration implies the documentation of the birth of a child, this is made tangible in the form of a certificate which attests to the birth of the child. Why is a birth certificate so important? This question has a thousand and one valid answers. This will literally be the child’s passport to the world.
It would give direct access to healthcare, education and even exploration of the world in the latter years. With the rate of awareness surrounding the importance of birth registration and its implication for the child, it remains that about 50% of children under five are still unregistered and largely at a risk of being unrecognised in their societies.
Why is birth registration important?
Birth registration gives a legal identity to the child which opens up to a world of opportunities to the child. Access to education is granted with proof of birth registration amongst other privileges.
Since a child without a birth certificate is denied the ability to partake in some of the simplest rights he/she is duly entitled to, it is often the case that children die from easily preventable diseases due to their lack of a birth certificate. Possession of one makes them capable of receiving the medical treatments and vaccinations needed.
Should it be dispersed automatically or on the request of the parents?
The dispersal of birth certificates could go both ways – automatic for the less-literate parents who are unaware of the world of opportunities that come with it and on request for those that do. It should be made known that certain individual rights can be withheld without proof of birth certification. In line with the previous point, without possession of a birth certificate, the individual right to health can be jeopardised.
The right to get an education, rightfully inherit property, prevent child exploitation is also guaranteed. All these rely on birth registration to prove identity and thus entitlement to basic rights. Lack of birth documentation renders a child vulnerable to crimes and abuse, since the government has no evidence of the child’s existence, it is incapable of protecting the child from forces of crime. Children in this situation are more susceptible to being recruited as child soldiers or being trafficked.
What can be done about this?
Awareness on this issue is quite important. Educating the grassroots would address ignorance on that level and boost the knowledge of the birth certificate and its essence for the child.
Jovago.com, to support this great cause and ensure the official birth registration of every child born in Africa, signed a partnership agreement with UNICEF which sees an amount from each booking go to support the “Passport to Protection” programme.
It’s safe to say that birth registration is a mix of both a necessity as it creates that pathway to a world of opportunities and a luxury, considering that many still remain without the proof of their legal identity.
Do you think birth registration remains an issue to be addressed? What can you do to promote birth registration?