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Birth registration of children in Zimbabwe
Justice for Children Trust
October 2007

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Executive summary

The major findings were as follows:

• The major causes for non-registration included what respondents referred to as RGs office's requirements being too strict and rigid. The long investment in time through travelling and queues emerged as a major discouraging element to birth registration. However, when there is an urgent requirement for it, such as school examination, they desperately and earnestly seek birth registration.
• Parents do not enthusiastically seek the registration of the children soon after birth, but do so as the children mature or grow up and the birth certificate becomes a vital document in the children's lives. The RGs office in Bindura also noted that often there is an apparent lack of interests by parents or guardians to register minors.
• It was noted that crucial government offices (such as the RGs office) are situated in the provincial or district centres, which are, by and large, still very far away from the majority grassroots population.
• In Bindura 79% of respondents stated that the legal requirements and framework governing birth registration were generally unknown, misunderstood and inadequate. In Hurungwe 95% of respondents said that they were ignorant of the laws and that the legal framework that governed birth registration was inadequate and often stated in ambiguous ways by officials in the RGs office.
• A major issue noted during the research related to the sponsorship of witnesses to the registration centres by way of paying for their bus fares, accommodation and food. The major socio-economic consideration and hindrance to birth registration of children was cited as the lack of finances to travel to registration centres.
• Some women were reluctant to do this in fear of possible cultural and traditional repercussions in future, such as ngozi (an avenging spirit). It emerged also that 41 (25%) of women respondents were afraid of the "unknown", if they registered children in their maiden names.
• Social issues that emerged during the research and which affected birth registration of children had to do with case where there were remarriages. After a remarriage a father sometimes denies paternity or responsibility of his children and becomes reluctant to play his role in registration the children.
• Some men argued that it must not be made to be so difficult for them to register children in their names in the absence of a joint request with the mother, for example, in cases when the mother is dead or has abandoned the child.
• It was alleged by some respondents that the bureaucracy at RG's offices contributed to 63% of those children that failed to get birth registration documents. Such bureaucracy included those people that came with what they think are the necessary documents and related requirements, only to be told that there is something else that is required for them to be registered.
• It was noted that urban centres are more predisposed to greater rates of registration than the countryside due to the fact that registration offices are located in such centres. Likewise children delivered in hospital have a greater chance of being registered as compared to those delivered in homes.
• Birth registration offices are highly centralized, and communities with scarce resources endure financial hardships in accessing the sparse decentralized offices that issue birth certificates.
• In Bindura 241 (65%) adult respondents believe that the RGs office is generally inefficient. They stated that although the officials in that office "looked" busy all the time, they were actually inefficient. However, in Hurungwe 195 (52%) adult respondents indicated that they felt that the RG officials were doing their best whilst operating under very challenges circumstances and realities.
• 86% of adult respondents in Bindura District and 91% in Hurungwe District revealed that the mobile registrations conducted were very beneficial to those people in far away areas who could not travel to main registration centres. It came out that many people, especially in the farming areas and communal lands, obtained their registration documents during mobile registration exercises.
• A major process issue raised in the research was that some people, especially witnesses, failed to give what the RGs officials viewed as "correct or genuine responses", thereby failing to get served.
• In Bindura 97% of respondents stated that the attitude and behaviour of officials in the RGs was despicable. It was said that they were rude and did not listen to people, often saying very harsh and uncaring words and comments to people who may have queued for hours or even days to get served.
• 54 adult respondents (28%) in Bindura noted that people failed to get registered because of not having the requisite documentation of birth notices as prescribed in the BDRA.
• The researchers noted that outside the RGs office in Bindura there was not even a single piece of paper that informed people about procedures they needed to follow for them to be registered.
  In both Bindura District 94% of respondents and 91% in Hurungwe Districts noted that the RGs office did not conduct awareness campaigns on birth registration.
• It was said that minor orphans faced the challenge of getting relatives who were prepared to help them get birth registration.
• It was noted that many children cannot sit for public examinations because generally, schools do not enroll children who do not have birth certificates. The research showed that some very talented unregistered children used their sibling's birth certificates to be entered into school sporting activities and competitions.
• In Hurungwe District respondents said that they were not aware of any refugee children or population, although there were many non-Zimbabweans on the farms.
• Respondents revealed that the absence of birth registration documents or a birth certificate perpetuated a cycle of poverty, especially in the farms. 60 respondents or (84%) of those on the farms had no birth certificates.
• It was stated that in that regard, the advocacy campaigns needed to get the people to fully appreciate the centrality and critical importance of birth registration in their lives.

Major Recommendations

5.1 Capacity building and development

• There is an apparent need to increase staff in the RGs office.
• More mobile and other forms of community awareness and information dissemination are necessary.
• There is need to encourage and plan for more organized and systematic mobile registration campaigns (in terms of timing and regularity).
• Parliament should be lobbied to play a more dynamic role in advocating for child-friendly laws.
• There is need to provide greater funding to the RGs office.

5.2 Inter-agency/Inter-ministerial support

• In the interest of inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination, the RGs office should use the Department of Social Welfare for social investigation of disadvantaged children in need of birth registration documents.

5.3 Legal issues and framework

• The requirement of having a birth record difficult for most parents and a hindrance for a lot of rural folk so this requirement should be revisited.
• It is recommended that birth certificates be issued at places of birth i.e. hospitals or major clinics.
• Birth registration legislation and related acquisition laws need to be more sensitive and responsive to community realities.
• The Ministry of Health should be responsible for birth registration of minors, whilst the Ministry of Home Affairs could be responsible for persons beyond 18 years of age as this would ensure greater numbers of children getting registered at birth, except for those delivered in homes.
• The clause on compulsory registration of children needs to be supported by enabling instruments that can help to enforce it.
• The right to a birth certificate should be included in the Zimbabwe constitution.
• Amend BDRA to allow children in loco-parentis legal authority to register siblings (with testified support of their local leadership)

5.4 Administration

• Enforce the mandatory birth registration of children (be they under guardianship or their parents);
• Establish a public relations agency or an enquiries office at registrar general's offices;
• Birth registration cases should be assessed on their peculiarities and individually;
• Traditional and local leaders could keep records of the children born in their areas for authentification purposes when they need registration documentation and verification;
• Establish more mobile registration centres for peri-urban and rural areas;
• In the case of death the mother, the father should be empowered to register the child not the family of the mother because the father is the natural guardian;
• Headmasters should be capacitated to assist in investigating circumstances of children in need of birth registration.
• Birth registration centres should be significantly decentralized for greater accessibility by the majority population.
• There is need to campaign for minor/child-friendly birth registration strategies.
• Children could be used in the promotion and information dissemination on birth registration in both schools and the community through innovative campaigns such as development theatre/drama.
• Schools authorities must be encouraged and supported to endorse the critical relevance and importance of birth registration through urging parents who bring children for admission to get their children registered.
• Child friendly registration desks should be established;

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