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STORY: MALAWI / BIRTH REGISTRATION
TRT: 2.13
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / CHICHEWA / NATS
DATELINE: 13 SEPTEMBER 2012, LILONGWE, MALAWI
1. Close up, hand writing birth report
2. Med shot, health worker writing birth report
3. Med shot, health worker handing birth report to mother
4. Close up, baby
5. Med shot, mother with child
6. SOUNDBITE (Chichewa) Justina Nandola, 30 Year-old Mother:
“What I have noted is that this is very important as because of this passport, other people will know where one comes from.”
7. Med shot, children sitting on the ground
8. Close up children
9. Close up, child
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nkuna, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF:
“The child protection situation in the country is a problem there are many children that are in child labour; there are many children that are on the streets; there are many children that are dispossessed of property once their parents die. And to enforce the rights of these children it requires their identification that they are indeed children.”
11. Med shot, mothers in waiting room
12. Close up, health worker writing birth report
13. Med shot, health worker preparing birth report
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Raphael Munkhondia, Health Information Clerk, Bwaila Hospital:
“In Malawi by tradition, it is difficult to give a name instantly to a newly born baby, more especially when we are just introducing the idea to the mother, but since February, up to now September, there is an improvement. And as a hospital, we encourage that they must get the birth report on discharge.”
15. Wide shot, Munkhondia talking to women
16. Close up, woman listening
17. Med shot, women with babies
18. Close up, health passport
19. Med shot, mothers with children in waiting room
20. Med shot, women in line to weigh children
21. Close up, scale
22. Close up, baby being weighed
For the rest of his life, newborn Joshou Nandola will know his birthday.
His mother, Justina wants to make sure her son grows up with this vital piece of information, now imprinted in a birth report and soon a birth certificate. This is something her four other children do not have.
SOUNDBITE (Chichewa) Justina Nandola, 30 Year-old Mother:
“What I have noted is that this is very important as because of this passport, other people will know where one comes from.”
According to the 2008 population census, the Malawian government estimates that only around 16.5 percent of children under the age of 18 have birth certificates.
Without this document, children are more at risk of abuses such as child trafficking and early marriage, not to mention limited access to social services.
SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nkuna, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF:
“The child protection situation in the country is a problem there are many children that are in child labour. There are many children that are on the streets; there are many children that are dispossessed of property once their parents die. And to enforce the rights of these children it requires their identification that they are indeed children.”
Malawi’s compulsory and universal birth registration process started in early 2012 here at the Bwaila hospital in the capital Lilongwe.
Through support from UNICEF, it will be rolling this programme out to other parts of the country. It will not be an easy task, as there are many logistical and cultural barriers to overcome.
SOUNDBITE (English) Raphael Munkhondia, Health Information Clerk, Bwaila Hospital:
“In Malawi by tradition, it is difficult to give a name instantly to a newly born baby, more especially when we are just introducing the idea to the mother, but since February, up to now September, there is an improvement. And as a hospital, we encourage that they must get the birth report on discharge.”
The birth registration process is integrated into antenatal and immunisation programmes. So from the time a woman starts receiving antenatal care, she is encouraged to think of a name for her child.
After she has given birth, she can still get a birth report during her post-natal check ups or when they report for the baby’s first immunisation.
Malawi has made much progress in reducing child mortality, which has dropped by some 60 percent in the last twenty years.
By implementing this birth registration programme together with other initiatives, more children born in Malawi stand a better chance of growing up healthy and being able to fulfil their rights.
