IRINGA, 22nd September, 2016 –
The Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs Dr. Harrison George
Mwakyembe (MP) launched the decentralized births and deaths registration
system for the under-five cohort in Iringa and Njombe Regions, today.
The exercise will benefit more than 200,000 under -five children in
these two regions, reducing the backlog of unregistered children and
establishing a system for registering all new births in the regions.
The
programme brings registration closer to the community by establishing
registration points at health facilities, providing reproductive and
child health services, and at the community ward executive offices in
line with the government policy of decentralization through devolution.
This will enable parents in these two regions to have access to more
than 700 registration points. Moreover, there will be more than 1,500
Registration Assistants to support the registration process.
As
a special gesture, the government has waived fee for registration under
this initiative and the first copy of the certificate is given free of
charge. The initiative is a ‘one step, one visit’ process and has
adapted an innovative way of data collection using mobile phone
technology ensuring instant transfer of data which is uploaded through
SMSs facilitating a real-time tracking of progress.
The
decentralized system marks a significant shift in accelerating birth
registration in Tanzania Mainland, after years of stagnation. “We are
transforming the system to make it easier for children and their
families to access the entitlement of a birth certificate,” said Emmy
Hudson Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Registration, Insolvency
and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), responsible for the programme.
Ms.
Hudson added that, “this initiative transforms the system into a ‘one
step, one visit’ registration and certification from the existing ‘three
steps, multiple visits’ involving more than one visits to the District
Administrative Secretary’s office. Now parents can receive birth
certificates from the designated health facilities or through the ward
executive offices. ”
UNICEF Representative in Tanzania Maniza Zaman urged that "Every
child has the right to an identify. A birth certificate is a vital
record that documents the birth of a child. Currently Tanzania has a
very low level of birth registration which means that millions of
children under-five are "invisible" in the nation's records. This
initiative to accelerate birth registration will help more Tanzanian
children to claim their rights and be protected. The Government too will
have better data for policy and planning."
The
government is implementing this programme with partners, UNICEF, Tigo
and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) with funding from the Canadian
Government since 2012. At present the initiative is going on in two
regions – Mbeya and Mwanza. Starting with Iringa and Njombe, there is a
plan to take it forward to additional ten regions. "Birth registration
is key to accessing health care for Tanzanian children. Canada is a firm
believer in ensuring that every child has a permanent, official
and
visible evidence of their birth as it creates a state's legal
recognition of these children and their rights" says Ian Myles, High
Commissioner for Canada in Tanzania. This funding will facilitate
government efforts that are geared towards establishing a sustainable
model of birth registration targeting 3.5 million girls and boys under
the age of five. This would go a long way in evolving an efficient Civil
Registration and Vital Statistics System in the country.
“This
initiative addresses the core issues of ‘accessibility’ and
‘affordability’ in these regions and has the potential to be replicated
throughout the country”, said, Angela Anatory, the Registration Manager,
RITA who is leading the project.
TIGO
is supporting the initiative through innovative mobile technology,
which ensures that birth registration data is uploaded and sent to a
central database at RITA in real time. TIGO is also supporting in
creating awareness about the importance of birth registration and the
project.
TIGO’s
Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Woinde Shisael said that,
“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.”
The
Birth Registration programme in Iringa and Njombe is also supported by
VSO through human resource by providing coordinators and field
volunteers to support the implementation of the project.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help
children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence.
The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries,
UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation,
quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of
children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded
entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses,
foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its
work visit: www.unicef.org
About RITA
The
Registration Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) is the result of
transformation of the Administrator General’s Office into an Executive
Agency in 2003. RITA is the custodian of information on key life events
of the country on behalf of the Government and also deals with matters
of administration of deceased estates, bankruptcy, official receivership
and incorporation of trustees to name a few. As seen its roles are
unique and important for national development. Visit: www.rita.go.tz or twitter.com/ritatanzania or like us on facebook.com/ritatanzania
About Global Affairs Canada
The
mandate of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is to manage Canada's diplomatic
and consular relations, to encourage the country's international trade
and to lead Canada's international development and humanitarian
assistance. The Under-five Birth Registration Initiatives in Mbeya and
Mwanza were funded by GAC. GAC is also funding the initiative in Iringa
and Njombe, with a commitment to fund scaling up activities to 8
additional regions. For more information about GAC and its work, please
visit:www.international.gc.ca
About TIGO
Tigo
started operations in 1994 as the first cellular network in Tanzania. It
now covers 26 regions in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar. Tigo strives
to be Tanzania's most innovative mobile phone operator, offering
services ranging from affordable mobile voice communications to high
speed Internet access and mobile financial services through Tigo Pesa.
Tigo is part of Millicom International Cellular S.A (MIC) which provides
affordable, widely accessible and readily available cellular telephone
services to more than 43 million customers in 13 emerging markets in
Africa and Latin America.
About VSO
VSO
is a leading international development organization that was founded in
1958. We currently work in over 40 countries across the world, with the
headquarters based in London, UK. Our core expertise is in education,
health, wealth creation and participation & governance. Our unique
niche is to build the long term capacity of local service providers
through tailored coaching provided by highly skilled volunteer
professionals, enabling us to go beyond the impact traditional training
approaches deliver to focus on creating a learning culture within the
organizations where we work. For more information please visit: www.vsointernational.org
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