Our President, Bishop James Tengatenga of Southern Malawi has been talking about the importance of birth registration. Watch it here

Dr. Pauline Berger writes "It is shocking to learn that the non-registration of Aboriginal births remains so prevalent in a wealthy country like Australia". She will be writing in our next Newsletter but meanwhile you can read more about this issue here

Some news on what is happening in Congo from Mme Mugisa Isingoma who is President of the Mothers' Union there:
"We are very interested and concerned about the issues of birth registration. As a Mothers' Union organisation which cares for the family, we have to start with Marriage registration. This is a big challenge, because many of the marriages made here are traditional marriages. They do not care about registration and when one dies, it is the beginning of suffering for the one who is left. So what we are doing is when women become pregnant, we educate and help them to register their babies the day they leave the hospital with their baby. We still continue to work with couples, showing them the importance of being registered.

Last week we had a fascinating meeting with Bishop Oliver Simon who is Bishop of Antsiranana in the remote far north of Madagascar.

He said that registration at birth is not common. The law allows you to make a declaration of your age in front of witnesses at a later stage and so gain access to education, the army, the police etc. This means that there can be pressures to claim to be younger than your actual age so as to be eligible for education. He does not think people are worried about birth registration because of the opportunity to make a declaration.. Official figures state 25% are not registered at birth but he thinks it may well be higher.

A few days later Marie Pierrette who is the MU Provincial President for the Indian Ocean and based in Madagascar added some information:

"Three years ago the MU in the five dioceses in Madagascar became involved in the campaign for birth registration for the protection of children, in partnership with UNICEF, the public sector and the Ministry of Education. The resources came from UNICEF. After training, the MU members were shared out around their towns, 6 MU members in each town and they have worked in 119 towns till today and have delivered 2,767 births certificates."

Amnesty International's report on prison conditions in Mozambique says "Amnesty International encountered several children who both claimed and appeared to be under 16 years old. When questioned about this, prison authorities said that the burden of proof was on the detainees to prove their age. But only a tiny minority of people in Mozambique have birth certificates - those from very poor families are unlikely to have any kind of documentation." Read more about this at http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/mozambique-thousands-unlawfully-held-substandard-prisons-2012-11-22

In September Government Ministers from 46 African Countries met to discuss how to improve the levels of birth registration in their countries. You can read about it here

Here are some links to tell you more about the importance of birth registration.
The first is a video about birth registration in India and is here
The second is a  UNICEF video about the Philippines - click here
You can also read a report from Perth University in Scotland about the ways in which discrimination stops mothers from registering the births of their children.  Read it here

You can read more about this issue on the IAFN's latest newsletter which is online here

Why should the Anglican Communion be involved?

Belonging and identity are important concepts for us.  We belong to God and have our identity in Christ (Psalm 139.1-4; Ephesians 2.10, 19; etc, etc).  We believe that we are known by God and that we matter to God. And we belong to one another (John 13.35; 1 Corinthians 12.12-27; etc, etc).  A theology of belonging and identity relates to how we live as individuals in relationship, in community, and to our rights and responsibilities towards one another.

Unregistered children are almost always in poor, marginalised or displaced families or from countries where systems of registration are not in place or functional. Anglicans are committed to human flourishing and to transforming structures in society which thwart human potential and well-being.  Our understanding of children in particular is shaped by the example and teaching of Jesus who stood alongside those who have no voice and explicitly supported the welfare of children.

Our churches are present in urban and rural settings - even in informal urban and remote rural settings - and have many opportunities to promote birth registration and enable families to engage with registration processes. We have specific ministries among families, not least baptismal ministry. Anglican dioceses and parishes may run, or have ministries within schools, hospitals and clinics. There are Anglican schools for nurses and training schemes for skilled birth attendants.  And so on.

Why is this important?

In the so-called Third or Developing World, about 51 million children every year are not registered at birth.   For example, in Malawi, even after the Government made birth registration compulsory, only 10% of under-fives were registered. This means they have no documented identity.

Without a birth certificate many children

• may not go to school

• may not receive special protection as a minor

• cannot obtain a passport

• cannot inherit money or property

• cannot open a bank account
• cannot vote or stand for election

As non-citizens, they can become invisible and can easily join the tens of millions of children who live on the streets in unsafe and vulnerable situations.