A quarter of births go unregistered, study finds
Gothataone Moeng | Friday June 20, 2014 17:08
Following a comprehensive assessment of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) systems, the Department found among others, that customary marriages and divorces were going unregistered, Boammaruri Otlhogile, Chief Registration Administrator told Ntlo ya Dikgosi this week.
Botlhogile said the assessment found that only 72 percent of births are registered nationally, although the Botswana Family Health Survey (BFHS) found that 95 percent of births occur in health facilities.
The assessment also found that the number of deaths registered is lower than deaths recorded by the Health Statistics Unit.
He said location played a role in the percentage of registered vital events.
“Due to availability of facilities, higher percentage of vital events are registered in the urban areas, with 84 percent registered in towns and 58 percent registered in rural areas,” he said.
Otlhogile said even though civil registration is widely recognised as essential for many national governance and statistical systems, it remains undervalued and underdeveloped across Africa.
He said following the assessment, whose objectives were to assess the gaps in policy and legislative frameworks governing CRVS as well as identify challenges in the management of registration, one of their aims is to tap into the customary system of vital events and engage dikgosi as well as councils for wider community outreach. Meanwhile, Otlhogile also revealed that the department had resolved to waive the payment of penalty fees for non-compliance and late registration of births and deaths, as well as failure to register for Omang within the prescribed time.
“The waiver shall apply for 12 months effective April 01, 2014 and will cover everyone,” he told the traditional leaders.
“After the expiry of 12 months, the waiver shall only be reserved for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as remote area dwellers, destitutes, orphans, street children and people living with disabilities.”
He said the normal process of cautioning applicants through the Botswana Police would continue for failure to register for Omang.