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06.02.2005 Regional News

Communities to register newborns on a pilot basis

06.02.2005 LISTEN
By GNA

Saltpond (C/R), Feb. 6, GNA - Plan, Ghana, a child-centred non-government organisation (NGO) is to assist the Birth and Death Registry in carrying out a pilot birth registration exercise in six communities in four districts of the Central Region.

Besides recruiting volunteers in the various communities to undertake the registration exercise, Plan Ghana will also provide the Births and Deaths registries in the four districts with logistics support to enable the staff to check and monitor the registrations. The exercise is to bring birth and death registration to the doorsteps of the people to enhance collation of reliable data on population for effective planning.

The communities are Fianko in Awutu-Effutu-Senya District, Akotsi in the Gomoa District, Kwasi-Twikrom in the Agona District, Ebiram, Essarkyir and Krofu all in the Mfantseman District.

At a workshop at Saltpond for the implementation teams from the four districts, Miss Adelaide Nartey of Plan, Ghana, said the organisation's decided to assist the Birth and Death Registry due to its inadequate staff and the lack of the necessary logistics She said the exercise was in fulfilment of the goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"The child needs to be identified hence our decision to support the exercise," she said.

Mr Samuel P. Ankrah, Registrar of Birth and Death Registry told the participants that inability to establish a child's paternity should not prevent the child from bring registered. Mr Ankrah said where the paternity of a child was in doubt the mother's name should be used in registering the infant. He reminded Ghanaians that birth registration was done only once but said records on the registration certificate could be changed only with the permission of the Registrar.

He said people who lost their birth certificates should apply to the registry for new ones.

Mr Ankrah said children from 0 to 12 months could be registered free of charge.

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