The 2018/2019 Report of the Ghana District League Table released by the Centre for Democratic Development CDD-Ghana, has revealed that the practice of birth registration has been relegated to the background in the country.
According to the report, 48 districts in Ghana do not have any data at all on any birth registration, while the data from other districts were not up-to-date.
This came up at a two day Capacity Building and Sensitization Workshop for Civil Society Organizations and the Media in Kumasi.
The District League Table introduced for the first time in 2014, is the fifth in the series and has been used as a social accountability tool that ranks all of Ghana’s districts by their level of social development and service delivery.
Based on consultations with key Ministries and Agencies the 2018/2019 District League Table used indicators from the health, education, sanitation, water, child protection, governance and security sectors.
Two indicators were added to track progress related to the birth registration rate and net attendance rate at the primary level.
The Capacity Building and Sensitization Workshop for Civil Society Organizations and the Media in Kumasi was to engender advocacy from the two key stakeholders to influence Public Policy.
A Research Analyst at CDD-Ghana, Awal Mohammed, explained further the importance of the Capacity Building and Sensitization Workshop.
The Executive Director of Research Link Foundation, Mr. Christopher Dapaah urged civil society organizations and the media to whip up public interest among the electorate to fully participate in the forthcoming District Level Elections and the Referendum.
In Ghana the birth of every child is to be registered in the districts where the birth occurred, within 12 months.
However, according to the 2018/2019 report, 48 districts in Ghana do not have any data at all on any birth registration, while the data from other districts are not updated.
Senior Fellow at CDD-Ghana, Ambassador Francis Tsegah urged policy-makers to ensure birth registrations become a key part of national planning.
