By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Guyana Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have embarked on an ambitious project which aims to see Guyana achieving 100% birth registrations.
The announcement was made by Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix at a joint press conference on Friday, September 25, where he stated that the project is due to commence sometime in 2016.
According to Felix, the project will see heavy attention being placed on advertising the importance of children being registered.
“The risks that are faced by children and adults who are not registered are tremendous, and may hinder access to other child and human rights. Additionally, birth registration is linked to good governance and sound national development,” said Felix.
Further, the Department of Citizenship and UNICEF will be conducting a review of existing legislation surrounding birth and death registration.
“This would be a part of a number of first steps to ensure that Guyana’s vision for 100% registration is realized through the full articulation and implementation of policies which promote, among other things, free and universal birth registration,” said the Minister.
Felix was asked whether a reform of the legislation would see punitive measure being implemented to ensure that persons registered their children, to which he responded that no consideration had been given for such.
Further, he stated that at present Guyana’s birth registration rate stands at just over 90% on average.
