Worldwide, birth registration is among the vital sources of statistical information. However, Tanzania has not been able to rely on this system for its information due to the low coverage where only 19 per cent of births are registered.
TIGO’s Corporate Social Responsibility Officer Woinde Shisael in a souvenir photo with a section of women in Mbeya during the launch of the mobile child registration system.
A birth certificate is one of the most important documents a child will ever own. Children will only exist in the eyes of their national governments, and enjoy their fundamental rights when they are officially registered with a birth certificate.
This simple document is an essential requirement to confer access to basic rights, and to gain access to social services, including immunization, health care and schooling. It is also essential to protect children from child labour, early marriage and trafficking, and from being recruited into armed forces.
It can help children benefit from child-sensitive treatment within justice systems when entering into contact with the law, whether they are offenders, witnesses or victims. According to the UNICEF, in Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia, less than 20 per cent of all births are registered.
In Ethiopia and Tanzania, more than five times as many children are registered in urban areas than in rural areas. While many countries have introduced legal provisions to make birth registration mandatory, only nine have policies that ensure birth certificates are free. In countries like Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda, UNICEF is supporting the Governments to strengthen and expand birth registration services. A
ccording to the UNICEF State of the World’s Children 2012 report, in Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Eritrea, Tanzania and Kenya, almost 1.7 million children were registered in 2009 alone. Seeing this massive challenge of birth registration the government a week ago launched a new national birth registration system set to massively accelerate the number of children under 5 with birth certificates.
Prime Minister Mr Mizengo Pinda launched the system that will be rolled out in phases with Mbeya kick starting the initiative as part of a first phase which will include Mwanza, Geita, Shinyanga, and Simiyu regions. “We are transforming the system to make it easier for children and families to access their entitlement of a birth certificate,” said Phillip Saliboko, the Chief Executive Officer of the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), responsible for the initiative.
Mr Saliboko said that whereas before there was a 2-step system of birth notification, and birth certification and birth certificates could only be accessed through the District Administrative Secretary, there is now only one step for the certificate and parents can receive their birth certificate from their local health clinic or through the local government system.
“We are bringing the service to the people rather than them having to travel far to access it,” he said. The new birth registration system would not have been possible were it not for TIGO’s innovative mobile technology. The mobile application simplifies the process of birth registration by entering the registration information into a mobile phone which sends the data to a central database at RITA in real time.
The application is designed to work on all models of mobile phones and operating systems. TIGO’s Corporate Social Responsibility Officer Woinde Shisael said that Tigo recognizes the importance of mobile technology in solving social challenges around the world and especially in South Saharan Africa where its contribution to development is growing day by day.
Ms Shisael said that it was clear that the use of mobile technology in registry strategy and birth registration to children is one of the many benefits of innovation that brings productivity to society. This material via cell phones can identify and reach out to more people quickly and cost-effectively.
“TIGO is proud to be the sole telecommunication company partnering with RITA and other stakeholders in order to make sure that every child birth in Tanzania does not go unaccounted for,” she said. The mobile application simplifies the process of birth registration by entering the registration information into a mobile phone which sends the data to a central database at RITA in real time.
UNICEF Representative, Jama Gulaid commended the government for its commitment to prioritizing child rights saying that they were proud and happy to contribute to an initiative that provides for the most basic of all children’s rights – an official recognition of their existence and nationality.
“For too long, too many children have gone without the birth certificate that actually provides them with a passport for protection throughout their childhood and beyond, helping them access their basic entitlements. By targeting the newborns and under-fives with the new system, we are working in partnership to turn off the tap of children without birth certificates,” Gulaid lamented.
Febby Edward (30), a resident of Mabatini area in Mbeya, explained that the new system would be extremely beneficial to many future mothers because apart from reducing the time of following up the certificates, it would also help save rural women especially their hard earned cash as the process of getting a certificate is associated with bribing officials.
“To get a certificate one has to pay up to 50,000/-, a hefty amount even to women living in urban areas. For rural dwellers, women have to walk for long distances to follow up on getting the birth certificate,” she said. The recent Tanzania Demographic Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2010 shows that only 16 per cent of children under the age of five have been registered in Tanzania, of whom only 6 per cent had received birth certificates.
Registration rates in Tanzania have not improved significantly for over a decade. But in June 2012, a new system, which delegates the authority of issuing birth certificates into the functions of personnel within existing health and local government systems, was tried out in Temeke District, Dar es Salaam, with dramatic results.
Within a period of only six weeks more than 15,500 under-five children were registered and issued with birth certificates, representing an average of 514 children registered per day. Overall, there was an increase by 29 per cent of children under-five registered in the 14 pilot wards, jumping from only 15 per cent with birth certificates to 44 per cent.
“Today marks another major step forward in the partnership between the Governments of Canada and Tanzania in addressing child and maternal health,” said the Canadian High Commissioner, Alexandre Lévêque. “Establishing an effective birth and civil registration system is a critical component of our collective efforts under the Accountability Commission.
The current average of children under-five with birth certificates is 5.5 per cent. In partnership with RITA, Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO) and UNICEF, we are aiming to increase that by 46 per cent, with nearly 900,000 children under-five receiving birth certificates over the next two years,” Leveque said.
The first phase of the national roll out to the five regions is being supported by the Canadian Government as part of their overall contribution to the United Nations’ Accountability Commission for Maternal and Child Survival, co-chaired by the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the President Jakaya Kikwete.
The new system is planned to be operational in Mbeya from 25th July, 2013 and after a period of eight weeks, an intensive roll out will progressively move onto the rest of the five regions over the next two years.
By MASEMBE TAMBWE, Tanzania Daily News
