By Steve Besford | Operations Manager, ZET
As we approach the end of 2015 Trinity Project is extremely grateful to you for your donations to help children in Bulawayo obtain birth documents.
In a recent paper, Mr Pumulani Mpofu, Director of Trinity Project, emphasises the vital nature of their advocacy work amongst all levels of Zimbabwean society: from local people to government officials and members of parliament …
“ ‘Acquisition of birth certificates is very difficult for vulnerable children.’
The root causes include broken families whereby a parent deserts the child. Several cases of problematic birth certificate acquisition involve mothers who have abandoned their children and gone to South Africa without registering them. Poverty which leads to broken families and forced migration is also a linked root cause of this problem. A prohibitive fee required by the Registrar General’s office for processing external birth certificates and fees paid for accessing information are also a hindrance. Stringent requirements at the Registrar General’s office lead to difficulties in acquisition of birth certificates.
There are several harsh effects of lack of birth certificates among children. Without birth certificates it is difficult for one to be enrolled into formal education. Most of these children without birth certificates end up attending non-formal schools which offer substandard services. If a child is enrolled without a birth certificate in a formal school s/he will face challenges in writing their grade seven exams and hence may fail to enrol for secondary education. Lack of birth certificates also means the child’s identity is unknown bringing with it a wide array of socio-economic challenges. A major challenge is discrimination in the community or at school when those who have birth certificates make fun out of those without. Many other services require a birth certificate including access to welfare services, inheritance and health care. So those without birth certificates are susceptible to many other challenges which harm their growth and development as children.
In Zimbabwe, acquisition of birth certificates is easier for children born in wedlock with parents who can produce a marriage certificate. However, most marriages (almost 85 %) in the country are not legalized as people marry customarily and end there. Many other children are born to unmarried women and teenage girls. Technically the Registrar General’s office does not recognise unregistered customary marriages and its insistence on the presence of both parents despite the harsh economic realities and socio-cultural health sector conditions that lead to spousal separation is proving a strong hindrance to birth registration. One of the objectives of this strategy is to encourage the Registrar General to expand the categories of the child’s birth informants to include other relatives and community leaders.”
Please continue to support Trinity Project’s vital advocacy strategy into 2016. Thank You!
Order your Christmas Cards by emailing contact@zimbabweeducationaltrust.org.uk
By Imelda Duduzile Moyo | Trinity Project, Bulawayo Zimbabwe
By Steve Besford | Operations Manager, Zimbabwe Educational Trust
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