Govt commits to intensifying birth, death registration
GOVERNMENT is committed to ensuring that all people have access to birth registration by 2030 in line with target 16.9 percent of sustainable development goals, Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has said.
Mr. Kampyongo said efforts to improve birth and death registration in Zambia had resulted in increased demand.
Mr. Kampyongo said birth registration had risen from less than 12,000 per year in 2012 to 130,000 in 2018.
He said the number of deaths registered per year had increased from less that 1,000 per year in 2012 to about 40,000 in 2018.
And Mr. Kampyongo said causes of deaths were classified according to international standards. Mr. Kampyongo was speaking in a speech read for him by Northern Province assistant secretary, Snavya Kangamba, during the launch of the birth registration certificate issuance centre in Kasama.
He said it should be noted that universal birth registration will make birth registration the foundation of the national identify documents.
"Decentralisation of birth and death certificates has addressed the impediments to registration,” he said.
"Government is therefore committed to ensuring that all people in the country have access to birth registration by 2030 in line with target 16.9 percent of the sustainable development goals," Mr Kampyongo said. Meanwhile, Mr Kampyongo said, in order to address the problem of lack of awareness on the importance of birth and death registration, his ministry had developed a national advocacy and communication strategy.
Mr. Kampyongo said education and communication (IEC) materials have also been printed and were being distributed. He said radio programmes will also be running in all local languages on ZNBC in the next few weeks to sensitise communities.
Mr. Kampyongo urged community radio stations to partner with the Ministry in disseminating messages on birth and death registration.
Speaking earlier, Kasama District Commissioner Kelly Kashiwa said birth and death registration was one of the greatest assignments in human evolution of which without, there could be no Zambia.