SA tops in Africa for registering children – Unicef

The failings of SA’s electricity provider, national airline and several other state-owned enterprises aside, it appears the country is at least leading the continent in one aspect: the registration of children.

Despite significant increases in birth registration, a quarter of the world’s children remain unregistered and “invisible”, according to a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which works in more than 190 countries to save children’s lives and help them to access basic services such as healthcare and education.

The report, titled Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track?, indicates that SA is the top-ranked country in Africa with an 89% (roughly 5.7 million) child birth registration rate for children under the age of five.

“We have come a long way but too many children are still slipping through the cracks, uncounted and unaccounted for,” said Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore. “A child not registered at birth is invisible – non-existent in the eyes of the government or the law.

“Without proof of identity, children are often excluded from education, healthcare and other vital services, and are more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.”

There are an estimated 237 million children under age five worldwide without birth certificates. One in four children under five – 166 million – on average, are not registered. And even when they are, they may not have proof of registration.

Unicef regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa Mohamed Fall said families often face steep barriers to birth registration, including long distances to the nearest facility, lack of knowledge about how to register and high fees required for a birth certificate.

In some countries, children from marginalised groups may face higher barriers, which can result from living in remote areas or among communities that frequently move, making access to registration services difficult.

“We have seen a pattern that where there is conflict and unrest in a particular country, there is less likelihood that children will be registered due to lack of access to services,” said Fall.

The lack of accurate birth registration data could be an obstacle for governments for planning purposes.

“If they do not have the right data, they cannot do proper planning as they should,” he said.

The report, which analysed data from 174 countries, indicated that sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in this regard.

According to the department of home affairs, a child must be registered within 30 days after birth. The birth can be registered by a parent, guardian or any other person legally responsible for the child at an office of the department.

If the parents are overseas, the birth can be registered at the nearest embassy or mission.

The findings of the report are intended to inform the development of policies and programmes and seek to raise awareness of the need to strengthen registration as the most effective strategy to achieve universal birth registration and to ensure that every child is given a legal identity from birth.

– gcinan@citizen.co.za

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