Local Government and Community Development Department (LG&CDD) Punjab in collaboration with UNICEF and Telenor Pakistan launched a Digital Birth Registration (DBR) Cell situated at the local government complex, Lahore, here on Thursday. The event celebrated a dynamic partnership established for the purpose of achieving universal birth registration for children in Punjab. On the occasion, LG&CDD Special Secretary Shahid Nasir Raja and Angela Kearney, UNICEF Country Representative for Pakistan, formally launched the highly-equipped DBR Cell hosting live data flows of birth registration applications for children in Pakpattan and Bahawalpur districts.
Under the project, enhanced access for children to the birth registration service in target districts will be facilitated, primarily through leveraging the use of digital mobile phone technology. Initially, the intervention will be implemented in Pakpattan and Bahawalpur districts in 2017 and in 2018 it will be replicated in eight additional districts identified by the government of Punjab, as demonstrating the lowest birth registration rates for children in the province.
In their messages, Mansha Ullah Butt, Minister LG&CD, and Muhammad Aslam, Secretary LG&CD Department, thanked the UNICEF for launching this IT-based birth registration system and they hoped with the assistance of UNICEF, the LG&CD will be able to introduce technology across Punjab. The department will also be able to make visible increase in birth registration ratio in the Punjab and meet SDG goals by the year 2030.
Speaking on this occasion, Angela Kearney said that the right of the child to birth registration is a fundamental right, and a birth registration certificate is regarded by UNICEF as a passport to protection for all children across the globe. "We congratulate the Punjab government for prioritizing the registration of children's births across the province as a development priority, particularly for those left behind and excluded," she added.
"Telenor's technical contribution is also acknowledged in support of ensuring effective, efficient and transparent birth registration service delivery at the sub-national level. With Punjab having the highest birth registration rate for children under 5 in Pakistan, currently standing at 77 percent, the goal of achieving universal birth registration of all children in the province by 2024 is very much attainable," she added.
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