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‘Children’s birth certificates important’

National Registration Bureau (NRB) Mzimba district principal registration officer Sandress Kamanga has bemoaned lack of awareness on the importance of birth registration in the district.

He said this on Saturday during a child protection and case management review meeting of M’Mbelwa District Council.

Kamanga said most births in the district are not registered and many birth certificates are not being collected.

“So far, 20 271 birth certificates are yet to be collected from our office,” he said. 

Kamanga: Most births are not registered

However, Kamanga said birth certificates are important as they certify one’s nationality.

“When travelling abroad, especially with children, parents are required to show their children’s birth certificates at airports and border posts,” he said.

Mzimba child protection and case management coordinator Mightwell Mtonga said birth registration can prove vital in trafficking in persons cases.

“Some years ago some children were trafficked to Mozambique but it was hard for them to be repatriated to Malawi because they did not have birth certificates to prove that they were Malawians,” he said.

The government of Malawi has embarked on compulsory birth and death registration exercise in line with the National Registration Act of 2010 and it has so far reached out to 19 districts.

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