Project launched to boost birth registration through mobile phone

Islamabad

Plan International Pakistan has launched an innovative new project to increase birth registration in Pakistan through the use of mobile phone technology.

The Digital Birth Registration (DBR) project is jointly implemented by Plan International Pakistan in collaboration with provincial local government & health departments initially in district Sujawal and Tando Muhammad Khan in Sindh and district Chiniot in Punjab with the support from local civil society organisations and Telenor as the telecom partner.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, chief guest, Dr Asma Hyder, Member Social Sector, Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform said, “The Government of Pakistan recognises the importance of investment in human capital and that’s why the first pillar of vision 2025 is ‘putting people first’.” She was of the view that it is time to end the blind spots, eliminate the official invisibility and make every person count for the future that we want in Pakistan.

Appreciating the new DBR approach, the chief guest said “Universal education and access to health facilities will only be possible if we have strong CRVS system is in place. And the new digital birth registration system is first step towards achieving that goal.”

Margaret Adamson, Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan emphasised on the need for personal registration of citizen for active participation in modern society and said “registration of vital statistics is important for equitable distribution of resources and digital birth registration will be a big leap forward for civil registration system in Pakistan.”

Imran Yusuf Shami, acting country director, Plan International said, “Digital birth registration is a milestone that ensures child’s right to education, health and protection from; violence, early marriage and child labour.’’

Safdar Raza, advocacy manager, Plan International Pakistan- informed that Plan International has been involved in birth registration since 1997 in Pakistan and so far has helped government to register around 2 million births throughout Pakistan.

Zahid Jalbani, Project Manager DBR, Plan International briefed participants on the background of the project and shared that Pakistan has 27 % birth registration rate according to Unicef’s state of the Children report 2011.  He informed that the new DBR solution aims to replace old manual system with a digital civil registration database and an increase in the birth registration rates to up to 80% by 2018 in target districts.

The event also featured innovative IT based solutions presented by students of various universities.

Other notables at the ceremony included Abdullah Abdur Rehman from Telenor Pakistan, Muqadasa Mehreen from Unicef Pakistan, members of National Steering Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.