First birth registrations in Liberia for 19 years

The Liberian government says it has resumed registering births following a 19-year interruption across most of the country due to the civil war.



Only Montserrado county, home to the capital, Monrovia, has continued to run registration facilities in recent years.



The government has re-established registration centres in five of Liberia’s 15 counties and will do so in the remaining nine by 2011, Acting Health Minister Vivian Cherue said.



Liberian public health law makes it mandatory for parents to report infants for registration within 14 days of birth, but most parents have been unable to do so because of the lack of facilities.



According to Liberia’s latest Demography and Health Survey (2007) only four percent of children under five had access to birth registration.



Not registering children at birth can deprive them of many rights, including a nationality, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).



"UNICEF along with partner agencies will continue to support the government in this crucial task, so that more than 90 percent of children in Liberia under the age of five are registered by 2011," said a UNICEF communiqué.



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