Zambia: Birth Registration - a Child's Passport to Protection

opinion

At just two weeks old, baby Mulenga is one of Zambia's newest citizens. Her mother, Rose Mwange, has come to the bustling health centre in Nchelenge district, on the shores of Lake Mweru in Luapula Province. Like many mothers, Mrs Mwange wants to ensure that her baby receives life-saving immunisations and also have her baby's birth registered. Before April of this year, Mrs Mwange would have been required to travel to the provincial capital, Mansa, to apply for a birth certificate.

According to the 2010 National Census, only 17 per cent of Zambia's children, who constitute more than half of the population, are registered. Through support from UNICEF and its partners, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of the Republic of Zambia is now able to register births at selected health facilities in Luapula, Southern and Eastern provinces. This initiative promises to remove Zambia from the list of 10 countries with the largest number of unregistered children in the world.

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