03 Jun 2015

Failure to register children for both birth and the national identity card is tantamount to cruelty as it hampers their rights of enjoying various benefits and services

Giving a keynote address at the launch of the second generation registration campaign at Sorilatholo in the Letlhakeng Sub-district on June 2, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu, urged parents to ensure that their children were registered.

“I therefore urge each and every one of you here to partner with government and the non-state actors in our quest to reach universal registration. Not only should you register your children, but as good citizens, you should also remind your neighbours to do the same if you suspect they have not done so already,” he said.

He informed the gathering that since its inception, the civil registration system continued to play a critical role in governance of the country,  therefore that Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system was a crucial tool for public administration in the country.

“Firstly, civil registration establishes the basic rights of an individual. A lot of rights are dependable on birth registration for states to be able to ensure protection and exercise of other rights such as the right to social services like land and voting. It is crucial therefore that every person is registered to avoid our people suffering from the scandal of invisibility” he said.

Mr Batshu also said CRVS was a source of data used by planners and policy makers as well as implementers to adequately inform policy formulation, programme implementation and monitoring as well as socio-economic development in general.

“CRVS also play a significant role in improving and monitoring development outcomes,” he said. He also said globally, it had been noted that development efforts had been hampered by lack of most basic data about social and economic circumstances in which people live.

He, however, assured that despite this challenge, Botswana’s environment was favourable at the moment to ensure full or universal registration of people to facilitate good governance and development.

For her part, project concern international country director, Ms Dorothy Tlagae, also stressed the importance of registration, saying they had encountered some disheartening situations in which students failed to advance to tertiary institutions just because their parents did not register them for Omang card, something which she said drastically altered their future.

She therefore urged parents, especially in rural areas to come forth and register their children for both birth certificates and Omang.  She said in this modern era where child trafficking was rife, registering children could be vital in both foiling this criminal activity as well as tracing parents of recovered children.

Ms Tlagae also appreciated stakeholders such as PCI, and USAID for supporting the government in driving issues that affects the welfare of children. ENDS