UNICEF and Telenor join hands to introduce mobile birth and death registration in Myanmar

Innovative mobile technology to fully digitize vital registration system in Mon State: a crucial step towards Universal Birth Registration

NAY PYI TAW, 27 August 2018 – UNICEF Myanmar and Telenor Group launched today the Mobile Birth and Death Registration (MBDR) Project in Mon State, endorsed by the Government of Myanmar. A partnership agreement was signed on 2 July 2018 to implement this project, which will allow all Township Medical Officers across Mon State to register and issue certificates using a digital mobile recording system for the first time in Myanmar. 

H.E U Kyaw Tin, in his opening speech at the launch said; “The Government of Myanmar is reminiscent for e-government under the 12-Economic Policy. As it was declared in the first meeting of Digital Economy by the State Counsellor, we need to work on three areas such as: cooperation, skills and technology.  For the implementation of Mobile Birth and Death Registration in Mon State, cooperation will be significant while UNICEF and Telenor provide financial and technical support.” 

Speaking at the launching ceremony, H.E U Set Aung, Union Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance said; “The MBDR project is a significant innovation for Myanmar and contribute to accelerate Universal Birth Registration as mandated by the 2017 Manual on Birth and Death Registration.  This project will build on the ongoing efforts of the Central Statistical Organization to setup a vital registration e-platform at state and region levels. As part of this project, townships in Mon State will be replacing paper forms with digital data collection enabling faster and easier processing of vital registration. The evidence generated from this project will be essential to make policy recommendations, and inform a scale-up plan to completely digitize vital registration system in Myanmar.”

The pilot project aims to increase birth and death registration coverage and improve data confidentiality and security. It will also improve the productivity of basic health staff by significantly reducing paper forms and increasing the use of mobile technology.

“Telenor’s service coverage makes it possible for health officers to use mobile devices to register all vital data in real time. As a partner to Myanmar, we are proud to help the country realize its digital roadmap and contribute to the development of e-government services that benefits the people of Myanmar. This pilot is important because a birth certificate is every new-born’s formal inclusion in society and crucial for accessing social services and protection of legal rights. With mobile technology, we can make the process of registration more efficient for all parties involved. Telenor Group focuses on reducing inequalities and aims to leverage digital services and connectivity in innovative ways to bring the benefits of e-government to the public,” asserted Mr Petter Furberg, Chairman of Telenor Myanmar and Executive Vice-president of Telenor Group.

As part of this partnership, Telenor Group will provide financial support as well free data access to the MBDR web-based platform and provide training to midwives on how to register information and manage the digital system.

On the occasion, UNICEF Representative to Myanmar, Ms June Kunugi said; “We enter this partnership having witnessed the results of the recent birth registration campaign that opened the door for more than 130,000 children to go school and access other basic services. The support from Telenor Group will be a game changer in allowing UNICEF to support the Government of Myanmar with the progress towards ensuring a timely and universal birth registration through a digital vital statistics system.”

Telenor Myanmar

Telenor Myanmar has been providing accessible and affordable mobile communications to people across Myanmar since September 2014 and now offers a data network with widest coverage and best user experience in the country. With more than 8,000 sites nationwide, Telenor Myanmar serves more than 19 million customers in all States, Regions and territories through its award-winning 3G and 4G network. Telenor Myanmar is part of Telenor Group, one of the world's major mobile operators with more than 172 million subscriptions across Scandinavia and Asia and committed to responsible business conduct and driven by the ambition of empowering societies.

For more information about Telenor Group, please visit: https://www.telenor.com 

About Telenor Myanmar, please visit https://www.telenor.com.mm/