Freetown — Christian Brothers, a non-governmental organisation in collaboration with Cord-Aid Sierra Leone are embarking on a nation-wide birth registration sensitization.

Programme manager of Christian Brothers, Steven Borbor told Concord Times that "every child has the right to birth registration" in a country. Though the government has ensured that the Child Act Bill became law, much has still not been done on sensitizing the public on the content of the Act.

He maintained that birth registration was a fundamental right of every child which qualifies him to be a true and real citizen of the state. He said there are rights enshrined in the CRA which need to be thoroughly sensitized people about, adding that basic education and psycho-social programmes for children below the age of 15 are very crucial.

He noted that early marriage below the age of 18, according to the Act, was also a crime as it is a violation of the right of a child. According to him, early marriage and child cruelty are all against the law and that members of parliament have the responsibility to inform the general public of these laws.

Christian Brothers and Cord-Aid, he said, have engaged in a massive sensitization drive across the country to educate the public on the importance of birth registration. He said as an organization, they are also engaging government through the ministry of health and sanitation and UNICEF to ensure that birth certificates are distributed to all peripheral units across the country.

Ahmed Conteh, the community health officer of the Waterloo health center stressed on the importance of birth registration as a passport for children, saying that the exercise determines who belongs to the state.

"If birth registration should be enforced into the Act, children should not be admitted into schools without birth certificates," he said and urged all parents to take their children for birth registration as it is important for national planning and development.