By Foday Moriba Conteh
As part of their efforts in strengthening births, deaths, marriage and divorce registration in the Western Area, the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) has on Tuesday 24th August, 2021 held a one day engagement with local & tribal heads within the Western Area in Freetown. The one day engagement took place at the Buxton Memorial Hall on Charles Street in Freetown.
In his address, the Director of the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Mohamed M. Massaquoi, expressed appreciation to the local and tribal heads within the Western Area for gracing the occasion which he said is very important towards the strengthening of birth, death registration services in the Western Area.
He maintained that as a Government they have realized that partnering with local Government will yield a lot of result towards educating the populace on the importance of birth and death registration which, he said, is the reason why they decided to undertake the engagement of tribal heads within the Western Area in consultation with the Local Government.
Mohamed M. Massaquoi said the role of tribal heads in recording vital events within their communities cannot be overemphasized, adding that in most cases residents of their various communities do report happenings to them like births, deaths, marriages etc. of which he said these tribal heads, in the process, will definitely help the NCRA to have access to the information needed as they happen in their various communities which will make the work easier for his institution in terms of recording births, deaths, marriages as they occur.
The Director General maintained that the registration of births and deaths is very key towards the development of the country, stating how there have been some issues in relation to registration of births and deaths in the country, but said he is with the strong conviction that with the engagement with these tribal heads it will increase the awareness about the importance of the registration of births, deaths, marriages and divorces in the Western Area and the country as a whole.
Delivering his statement, the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Tamba Lamina, expressed gratitude to the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) for the collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development towards strengthening the registration of births, deaths, marriages etc. in the Western Area and by extension the country as a whole.
He said that there have been some challenges in respect of registration of births, deaths etc. but said that with the engagement those issues will be addressed.
Tamba Lamina also reiterated the importance of registration of births, deaths, marriages and divorces in the Western Area which he said will help Government to plan in terms of resource mobilization, supporting citizens in accessing social services like education, justice, healthcare etc.
On his part, the Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF, Stefano Schwarz, said that the process of recording a child’s birth is a permanent and official record of a child’s existence, and provides legal recognition of that child’s identity.
He added that birth registration is not only a fundamental human right, it also helps ensures that children’s other rights are upheld like the right to protection from violence and essential social services like health care and justice.
Stefano Schwarz maintained that UNICEF will place its focus on children under one year of age due to the low registration for this age group (73 percent) and to the national legal framework, which requires birth registration within 90 days of birth.
Underscoring some of the issues within the birth registration, he said entrenched traditions and culture interfere with the registration processes such as late naming of births, adding that public awareness about the compulsory aspect of civil registration is weak, as most people are unaware of the significance of such registrations.
One of the participants, the Western Area Mende Tribal Headman, Chief Matthew Jibao Young, showered praises on the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) for considering them as very important players towards the strengthening of the registration of births, deaths, marriages etc. within the Western Area in Freetown.
He assured all that they as tribal heads will cascade the information about the compulsory nature of registration of births, deaths, marriages and divorces within their communities.
