3 Million Babies Born in Ethiopia Every Year Not Registered

Three million babies born in Ethiopia each year go through life without an official identity because their births are not registered, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

“These children are deprived of their basic rights, and with no documentary evidence to prove how old they are or even who they are,” said Bjorn Ljungqvist, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia.

He called for the establishment of a national vital events registration system this year as part of the celebration of the new Ethiopian Millennium, which is still being celebrated with various activities since September 2007.

He was speaking at a two-day national forum discussing the problem of registration of births, death, marriage and divorce, which was organized by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and Ministry of Women’s Affairs with UNICEF support.

The deputy chairperson of the Legal and Administrative Standing Committee of the Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives, Fantaye Gezahegn, called on all federal and regional government institutions and non-governmental organizations to join hands in efforts to establish birth, death, marriage and divorce registration systems in the country.

Source African Press Agency

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