NRB in pilot birth, death registration

The National Registration Bureau (NRB) has started the Universal and Compulsory Birth and Death Registration and Issuance of Certificates. The exercise started on August 1.

According to NRB Public Relations Officer, a lot of people are flocking to the country’s district registration offices to have their birth certificates processed.

“Currently we are electronically processing the certificates in three pilot districts of Chitipa, Ntcheu and Blantyre. But our processing centre is in Lilongwe where other district registration offices send applications manually,” Fulatila said adding that processing centre is able to produce more than 100 birth certificates a day.

He further said that all births occurring in health facilities of the three pilot districts including Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe are being registered before the mother is discharged for processing and issuance of Birth Certificates.

“However the bureau is processing all requests for birth certificates from all the 28 districts through the district registration offices located at each district council in the country—it only takes about one week for a certificate to be out” he said.

Fulatila however, bemoaned a tendency by some citizens travelling to South Africa who demand for processing of their birth certificates at the eleventh hour.

“They are coming to demand for Birth Certificates while they know they are about to leave the country and this is creating more pressure on us. I am asking all those travelling abroad to make their applications in goodtime” said Fulatila.

For registration, informants to any birth or death are required to fill the Birth report form and the Death Report Form in order to have the certificates processed.

According to Fulatila, informants can be mother, father or any close relative present at the time of birth or death in the absence of parents. He said the forms are available at district councils free of charge.

With support from United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, Plan Malawi, World Vision and Democratic Governance of the European Union the exercise will enable government to have a credible calculation of how many people are born and die each year and the main causes of their deaths in order to have well-functioning health systems.

Birth registration also provides the basis for individual legal identity and helps to determine what programmes get priority for government funding.