Timely birth registration
Towards universal birth registration in Namibia
Challenges
Birth registration creates a permanent record of a child’s existence and opens up access to health care, social services, education and protection.
Namibia has a relatively well-developed civil registration system. Birth registration rates in Namibia have long been one of the highest on the African continent seeing a stark increase between 2006 and 2013.
In the years since then however, there has been some stagnation. Inequities in the issuance of birth certificates and timely registration are a continuing challenge, with only 43 percent of the registration being done in a timely manner.
Challenges in birth registration, include – but are not limited to – access to services in remote and deprived areas, the unaffordable cost of travel for many to registration points and mobile outreach campaigns.
Solutions
With the success of the pilot e-birth notification system, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Social Sevices, with support from UNICEF, aim to increase registration rates by addressing the remaining bottlenecks and linking birth registration services to other vital services. This includes linking e-birth notification with e-death notification systems and with child welfare grants.
The goal of the proposed linkages among the systems is to make social protection in Namibia more effective and efficient.