Proportion
of registered births increased almost five per cent over past decade, yet tens
of thousands of children under-five have never been officially recorded
Banjul,
11 December 2019 – The number of children whose births are officially
registered has increased slightly in The Gambia, but tens of thousands of
children remain unregistered. The trend
mirrors the global reality where 166 million children under-five, or 1 in 4,
remain unregistered, according to a new report released by UNICEF today on its
own 73rd birthday.
Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030:
Are we on track? – which analyses data from 174 countries – shows that the
proportion of children under-five registered globally is up around 20 per cent
from 10 years ago – increasing from 63 per cent to 75 per cent.
In
The Gambia, data from The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2018 shows a slow
increase of 5.8% in the number of births registered from 2010 – 2018 (from
52.5% in 2010 to 57.9% in 2018). While the figures look bad, 78 out of every
hundred mothers and caregivers (78.9%) know how to registrar their children.
“We
have registered huge gains but too many children in The Gambia are still
without birth certificates,” said UNICEF The Gambia Country Representative,
Sandra Lattouf. “Too many children remain uncounted and are therefore virtually
nonexistent in the eyes of the law.”
With
support from UNICEF, the Ministry of Health is now scaling up registration by
decentralizing and integrating birth registration into immunization and the
delivery of key social services such as cash transfers programmes. The birth
registration unit under the Ministry of Health has also started digitalization
of birth registration. The Birth, Death and Marriage Act is being reviewed to
give opportunity for integration into the single registry and other services
like immunization.
Like
other child rights, there is also a gender disparity in birth registration in
The Gambia. Boys are more registered than girls – 59.5% and 56.2% respectively.
Barriers to registration in The Gambia include the inflexibility of the birth
registration process, low awareness about the importance of birth registration,
and distance to the nearest registration facility.
“In
some birth registration centers, thousands of birth certificates remain
accumulated without their owners claiming them” said Ms. Lattouf. “Parents and
caregivers must build interest in the registration of their children and ensure
that their children are issued a birth certificate.”
UNICEF
recognizes challenges related to birth registration in The Gambia and has made
birth registration a priority in the UNICEF The Gambia country programme 2017 –
2021. UNICEF is also supporting the government of The Gambia to ensure that
children under 5 years are registered and issued certificates on time.
“Birth
registration is not a privilege; it is a human right that every child is
entitled to,” said Sandra Lattouf. “We must safeguard the legal identity of
children and providing them birth certificates is the first and most important
step toward ensuring that every child has legal recognition.”
In
Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030, UNICEF calls for five actions to
protect all children:
• Provide every child with a
certificate upon birth.
• Empower all parents, including single
parents, regardless of gender, to register their children at birth and for free
during the first year of life.
• Link birth registration to basic
services, particularly health, social protection and education, as an entry
point for registration.
• Invest in safe and innovative
technological solutions to allow every child to be registered, including in
hard-to-reach areas.
• Engage communities to demand birth
registration for every child.
“It
is the business of every person in The Gambia to ensure every child is
registered”.
For
more information, please contact:
Abdoulie
Sey, UNICEF The Gambia, Tel: +220 3940384, asey@unicef.org
