UNICEF: Birth Registration Protects Child Rights in Namibia

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/namibia_51570.html

WINDHOEK, Namibia, 28 October 2009—A novel idea for children has become a reality, now that the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration has set up an office in the maternity ward at Katutura State Hospital, the main public hospital in Windhoek. This UNICEF-supported effort is designed to ensure that every child born at the hospital receives a birth certificate.

In Namibia, 81 per cent of women deliver their babies in a hospital, yet 40 per cent of Namibian children under the age of five lack birth certificates. Children without birth certificates are more vulnerable to abuse, trafficking and early marriage, and have less access to government services and schooling.

In this case, the Ministry of Health is providing facilities and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration provides the staff to register the children, said UNICEF Representative in Namibia Ian MacLeod.

They have broken down the traditional barriers of ministries not working together in the best interest of kids, he added