Participants at the just ended National Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability conference in Accra have lauded Ghana’s automated birth registration programme, an initiative between Tigo, UNICEF and the Ghana Births and Deaths Registry. 

Making a presentation to conference participants drawn from both the private and public sector, the Senior Assistant Registrar for the Births and Deaths Registry, Seth Bosompem Kissi, mentioned the programme which is being piloted in over 300 communities across the country has simplified birth registration process creating ease and convenience for both birth registration officials and new parents. 

He disclosed from May 2016 to May 2017, 328,882 new births had been registered. He was hopeful the automated process would help them achieve their goal of 90 percent birth registration coverage rate by the end of 2017, especially in ‘hard-to-reach’ areas where less than 25 percent of children had been registered in the past.

The initiative was commended by the Director of the University of Applied Management, Ghana campus, Professor Martin Gyambrah. He said: “We all know the hassle people go through to secure a birth certificate in Ghana. What all the strategic partners have done is laudable and must be commended. This is an excellent initiative for the public good, which should be replicated on a broader scale to cover other communities across the country.”

The Acting Director of the Centre for Management Development at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA, Dr. Jemima Nunoo was impressed that the initiative had cut back on the paper work and the process could be completed under two minutes. 

She urged the partners to move from pilot to full implementation to ensure the sustainability in addressing the critical problem of identification which is key for national planning and development.  

The Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Tigo, Michael Sarpong Bruce, explained that the initiative was part of a broader strategy to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals; Goal 9 which seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation and goal 17, focused on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalize global partnerships for sustainable development.