The Ministry of Citizenship and UNICEF have begun a period of interaction which is expected to assist with Guyana attaining and maintaining universal birth registration.
Speaking with reporters at his office, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, explained that together the ministry and UNICEF will develop and implement a multi-year communication campaign as well as conduct a review of all legislation that “directly and indirectly affects the population’s right to identity.”
According to its country representative, Marianne Flach, UNICEF will be providing financing as well as assisting in the recruitment of the expertise needed for the two components of the programme.
While Flach noted that a child who is not registered “virtually does not exist,” Felix explained that “birth registration opens the door to many other rights; health, education, participation and protection from abuse and exploitation. The risks that are faced by children and adults who are not registered are tremendous and may hinder access to other child and human rights,”
Felix clarified that many in Guyana feel the ill effects of not having been registered. This is especially pronounced at elections time.
“At elections time there is a mad rush to get birth certificates. I have seen persons get birth certificates without a name, I have seen persons not get a birth certificate because their birth was not registered early and because they don’t know where or if they have registered,” he said.
During the 2008 voter registration process it was revealed by the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) that 33,827 persons, 7.8% of the total number of persons registered, could not be registered to vote because they did not have birth certificates.
According to the UNICEF website, “Birth registration, the official recording of a child’s birth by the government, establishes the existence of the child under law and provides the foundation for safeguarding many of the child’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.”
Registration is enshrined as a right under Article 7 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. This article affords every child the right to be registered immediately after birth and the right from birth to a name, and a nationality. Further, the article charges state parties to ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field.
Guyana which has ratified the CRC provides for the right of registration by charging parents, nurses or anyone present at a birth to report same to the nearest registrar. This provision, section 18 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act Chap 44:01 has been a part of Guyana’s laws since before its ratification of the CRC.
Therefore the intended review of the legislation will identify areas where amendments may be necessary.
The legislative review which will be conducted by consultant Patrick Triumph of the Triumph International Group is expected to examine “the Registration of Births and Deaths Act and other legislation, including proposed legislation that directly and indirectly affects the population’s right to identity.” This examination will make sure that there are no gaps in the present legislation and that all pieces of legislation are suitable harmonized.
There have in the recent past been several efforts to increase the registration rate in Guyana especially in the outlying regions which have lower registration rates.
In 2011, UNICEF donated US$48,053 ($9,658,653) to the Rights of the Child Commission, for the conducting of a birth registration survey/research. The programme also included a component which advocated for universal birth registration in regions 1, 2, 7 and 10.
January 2015 had been set as the deadline for achieving universal registration which is noted as an important aspect for countries achieving and monitoring the Millennium Developmental Goals that promoted gender and equality, children and health issues.
The General Register Office (GRO) has repeatedly noted that “a birth certificate, which is issued upon registration is one’s first personal identification and proof of one’s nationality that enables admission to school, to acquire photo identification(s), and to pursue one’s academic vocation. It is proof, if age is critical in ensuring prosecution in sexual offences and prevention of early employment and child marriages. All births occurring in the Republic of Guyana are required by law to be registered regardless of the parent(s) legal or marital status.”
Yesterday, Felix told reporters Guy-ana’s present registration rate is between 89-92%. This means that though the GRO had in 2014 claimed to be on track to attaining Universal Birth Registration by January 2015, Guyana still has approximately 10% of its population unregistered. This figure is the same as it was in 2006.
In a 2014 press release GRO had claimed to have addressed under registration and late registration, and established additional registration centres and an active public awareness programme. While early in 2013, a pilot project was launched at the major public hospitals to reintroduce bedside birth registration.
The statement had noted that “Ninety-five to ninety-eight per cent of all births are delivered in hospitals and bedside registration was brought into effect again to capture 100% of birth registration before the mother is discharged. The project was so successful that in July 2013 bedside birth registration was reintroduced at all hospitals.”
Felix stressed, “We have to get the word out in outlying areas where the problem exists in greater prominence. We don’t want to be punitive. We want to educate; make persons aware and then hope that with education they will comply.”
The communication component of this new effort intends to ensure that the word about the importance of registration gets to all areas of Guyana via various media including print, television, radio and social media.
Speaking about the accessibility of registration services Felix explained that liaison officers in outlying areas such as indigenous communities and border regions are in place to collect particulars of birth and submit this information to GRO. These officers are paid a commission based on number of births they register.
Meanwhile GRO has offices in towns and hospitals and health centres also offer registration services.
This newest collaboration between the government of Guyana and UNICEF will officially begin implementation in 2016 and is expected to yield 100% birth registration in a relatively short period of time thus its first stage is proposed to last two years.
“One child not registered is one child too many,” Flach stressed while explaining that Birth Registration lies at the base of UNICEFs work. Therefore, UNICEF’s strategic actions are geared towards strengthening national child protection systems in order to reduce the obstacles of registering every child at birth. Actions in support of birth registration include legal and policy reform; civil registry strategic planning, capacity building and awareness-raising; the integration of birth registration into other services, such as health and education; community-based registration and social mobilization campaigns.