To support the nation's civil registration and vital statistics systems, the Births and Deaths Registry (BDR) has started a mobile mass registration exercise and public awareness campaign on births and deaths registration.
In 261 districts across the nation, the exercise—a joint effort between the registry and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization, and Rural Development (MLGDRD)—is anticipated to register and issue birth certificates to infants between the ages of 0 and 12 months.
Additionally, it will inform the populace of the significance of registering the deceased. The register received eight Toyota Hilux pickups and 2,000 Samsung tablets as a means of accelerating the data collecting procedure.
Following that, the BDR offices will distribute the tablets, and one vehicle will be given to each of the newly established regions, the Statistics and Monitoring units at the BDR Head Office, and the BDR offices.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), which is part of the World Bank-funded Harmonising and Improving Statistics in West Africa Project (HISWAP), provided the logistical support.
Gov.'s dedication
Dan Kwaku Botwe, the Minister of LGDRD, stated that awareness and broad knowledge of births and deaths registration were essential for the government's planning and implementation of socioeconomic programmes during the exercise's start in Accra yesterday.
He said that actions were also being done to link the registration systems with pertinent government entities to enhance the previously described. The minister said that the recently acquired logistics will boost statistics for both birth and death registration.
According to him, 18% of deaths and 80% of births were reported in 2021.
According to Mr. Botwe, one of the biggest restrictions on the records system is the low priority given to death registration.
The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (1027), Section 32 subsection 4, states that anybody conducting a funeral must examine the death certificate and burial permission before beginning the burial. Therefore, everyone must follow through, he stated.
He urged the BDR's management and employees to keep up their efforts in order to maintain a secure and welcoming workplace. He praised the register for its efforts to automate its operations and services to the public by creating a contact centre to answer general inquiries from the public and launching an online payment site on Ghana.gov.
Relocation
Henrietta Lamptey, the interim Registrar of Births and Deaths, stated that the registration had started a number of initiatives at the beginning of this year, one of which was moving the national headquarters.
After operating for more than 50 years in a wooden building on the Rivera Beach Drive in Accra, the registration has finally been successfully moved to the third level of NALAG House, she stated.
She said that the change of site gave the register a chance to evaluate its technological operations and public services.