Liberia Begins BR In Health Facilitates

– Launches CRVS

By R. Joyclyn Wea

The Government of Liberia has for the first time launched what is known as civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) for both nationals and non-nationals in the country to obtain birth, death and marriage certificates among things.

The CRVS which was launched over the weekend at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs, and Tourism (MICAT)in Monrovia is under the Theme: “promoting innovative civil registration and vital statistics for good governance and better live,” is aimed at having accurate data from all vital events in the nation.

CRVS is the process use by national government through relevant institutions to record vital events as required by law.

Additionally, CRVS also generates personal legal documents required by people as proof of facts.

The United Nations first acknowledged Birth Registration (BR) as a human rights in the 1948 universal declaration of Human Rights.

Subsequently in 1966, UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ensured that birth registration became legal binding obligation for states.

Furthermore in 1989; the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC), one of the most ratified conventions, Article 7 states: “the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

Speaking at ceremony marking the official launch of the CRVS, the Director General for National Documents and Records Agency, Neileh Daitouah mentioned that marriage and divorce certificates are important instruments to CRVS for good governance and better lives.

He states the need for the two documents to be treated with care and dignity due to the level of importance attached to them (marriage and divorce certificates).

Daitouah further indicated that good record keeping helps promotes transparency, accountability, as well as good governance while at the same time hold the view that poor record keeping promotes corruption, bad governance, and deprives access to information and education.

To remedy the situation, he noted the need for the center for national records and documents agency to be fully sophisticated and supported in order to achieve this national goal.

Daitouah further holds that this would also require CNRDA to be equipped logistically, infrastructurally, and financially to support the much-needed human capacity building and to as well promote coordination with related values on statistical finding.

He asserted that the success of this initiative would rest squarely with legislative power to enforce compliance to vital statistical regulations and control.

“It is necessary that institutional leaders and administrators adopt an innovative and alternative approval to assist national government solve challenges face in promoting civil registration and effective vital statistical system to better lives of citizens thereby promoting good governance nationally and universally.

Accordingly, Prince Momolu, Director of the Bureau of Vital Statistics at the Ministry of Health, providing an overview on the importance of Birth Registration in the country, noted that CRVS creates a permanent record of each vital events such as birth, marriage, divorce and death.

He revealed that the Government of Liberia is trying to establish BR centers in all public facilities across the country ensuring a child is registered immediately after birth, something that will also help government develop accurate statistics on every child born in Liberia

“Government is set to establish an online BR System, to improve BR publicity and decentralize the process at a local level. BR provides reliable and accurate sources of information to improve national data banks and facilitates planning and development for both individual and the states.