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| :. Events |
| Birth and Death Registry celebrates National birth registration Day. Read More >> |
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Ghana celebrates childrens day.Read More >> |
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| The Institution of a Birth Registration Day: September 1st of every year.Read More>> |
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| :. News |
| Birth and Death Registry-Report on 2006 performance. More>> |
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| A major turning point in Birth Registration in Ghana. More>> |
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| Computerization of the Registration System. More>> |
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| Achievements since 2003.More>> |
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Why Births and Deaths Registration?
The issue of birth registration is especially important because of the implications that it has on the rights of the child. Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that "Achild shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name and the right to acquire a nationality". Birth registration therefore becomes the first legal acknowledgement of a child's existence and is fundamental to the realization of a number of rights. Ghana was one of the first nations to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Successive governments have pushed their intentions beyond the ratification stage. Several interventions and programmes have been carried out to ensure that the well-being and protection of the child is respected in Ghana.
Today, Ghana has a fully established ministry (The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs) that concerns itself with issues affecting women and children, with an affiliate body the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC), pursuing issues related to the development of the child. The establishment of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) within the Ghana Police Service to handle exclusively, issues bordering on the abuse of children and children's rights as well as the promulgation of the Intestate Succession Law to ensure that children are not denied their due in the estate of a deceased parent, all go to show the strides that have been made towards upholding child rights in Ghana. There is also, the introduction of Free
Compulsory Universal Basic Education (f-CUBE) to make it possible for all children in Ghana to access education at least to basic level.
Box 1: The Impact of Lack of Birth Registration on Juvenile Justice Administration |
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"One other critical factor influencing the effective operation of the juvenile justice system is the current state of birth registration coverage in the country. Currently, the coverage of birth registration is low in Ghana as it is estimated that about 70% of all new born children in Ghana are not registered. The lack of birth certificates by children poses the problem of proper identification, which is necessary in determining age of criminal responsibility and type of response to juvenile delinquency. In Ghana, there have been reports of the police and prisons officials being unable to determine the ages of juveniles with accuracy and therefore incarcerate them in adult cells and prisons".
Source: Juvenile Justice Survey, UNICEF and the Department of Social Welfare, 2004 |
It is important to emphasize that for any child to avail him/herself of any of the opportunities offered by the provisions listed above, it must be established with all authenticity that the child is a citizen of this country. The document, which gives legal recognition to the existence of the individual, clearly stating his/her identity and nationality, is the birth certificate. It is to put all these privileges within the grasp of the Ghanaian child and to give meaning to the ratification of the Convention of the Right of the Child that the Government of Ghana on the prompting of the Births and Deaths Registry has amended the Births and Deaths Registration Law to make registration of INFANTS (under 1 year) free of charge. The vital registration improvement programme further seeks to make registration for all children born in Ghana a practical reality in order that, prospects for their future development will not be compromised. For example in the absence of records on births, it may not be possible to:
- Ensure that children are enrolled in school at the right age
- Enforce laws relating to minimum age for employment, which could handicap efforts to prevent child labour;
- Effectively check the problem of girls forced into marriage before they are legally elig.ible, without proof of age;
- Ensure that children who fall foul of the law are given special protection and not treated legally and practically as adults;
- Secure the child's right to a nationality at the time of birth or at a later stage;
- Ensure that all children are immunized and assured of appropriate health care.
Children who are not registered are not officially recognized and their existence is thus overlooked in social development planning. They are not counted when essential policy and budget decisions are made. By nonregistration of their births, they could easily be shut out of school. The uneducated child is susceptible to all forms of manipulation and exploitation, making him/her a likely victim of abuse. This is common sight these days as children who otherwise are supposed to be in school are lured into all sorts of "forced labour" by certain unscrupulous persons. These children end up trapped firmly, in the poverty cycle. Planning for the provision of facilities that will ensure theirfuture development and welfare should start immediately they are born. Birth registration provides data that facilitates such planning.
A majority of those who are not registered are born and live in the rural areas of Ghana where access to a registration facility is virtually non-existent due to the unavailability of registration officers. In addition, most parents in the rural communities are also ignorant about birth registration and its benefits. They do not see the need for registration, while for some others the inability to pay the required fees had prevented them from registering their newborn babies, especially prior to the revision offees.
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