WITHOUT KNOW WHY, FATHER REGISTERS HIS DAUGHTER AT SEVEN MONTHS OF AGE!

Tuesday 10 April 2018

 

WITHOUT KNOW WHY, FATHER REGISTERS HIS DAUGHTER AT SEVEN MONTHS OF AGE!

 Plínio Rafael Cossa, holding in his hand the ballot of his daughter Luciana, on his lap and next to his wife.

The lack of knowledge about the importance of birth registration is not a peculiar problem of rural or more remote areas. In urban centers there are also people who do not recognize the gigantic utility of birth registration.

While people still relate the importance of birth registration to aspects related to their immediate needs, others can´t even point out reasons that cause them to register their children.

For the ambition of the Mozambican Government, it is not enough that people register, it is necessary that they know why they do it. And to do this, more emphasis should be placed on messages about the importance of birth registration if we really want to stimulate the increased demand for civil registration services consciously.

Plínio Rafael Cossa, is resident of the community of Marien Nguabi B, one of the peripheral areas of Xai-Xai city, in Gaza province. Recently, Plínio registered his daughter by simple indication of his neighbor. And even though were able to register his first luck, Luciana Plínio Cossa, successfully, Cossa does not know what will be worth the due documentation of his child who is now seven months old - the silence, was the answer of Plínio Cossa when asked about the reasons that motivated him to register his daughter Luciana.

In view of this, the Government of Mozambique, with funding from the Government of Canada and technical assistance from Save the Children and UNICEF, has been mobilizing efforts and social awareness to clarify the communities about the importance of birth registration. 

House-to-house, door-to-door, discussions and community dialogues are part of the approaches of community committees with which the government counts to reach as many people as possible - "We identify with the cause and from the training on matters of legal bases on birth registration and other vital events, we try to clarify as much as possible the people with whom we live on the importance of having all our children registered", says Rafelina Moses, community leader and member of the community committee of Marien Nguabi B.