Kenya

Impact of the universal birth registration campaign

Before the campaign was launched in 2005, 34% of the rural population and 84% of the urban population were registered. There are no current figures, but Kenya is due to undertake a national census, including information on birth registration. 

Government policy and practice on birth registration 

It is government policy that every child should be registered at birth, and this is covered by the Births and Deaths Registration Act.  However, there is a huge gap between law and practice.  Birth registration is not fully decentralised, and so families have to travel long distances, particularly in rural areas, to access registration services.  The birth notification process - through which parents complete a notification form at the chief's office when a child is born, which are then submitted to the district registrar of births - can take more than a year or even two.  Any registration after six months of birth is considered late registration, when the process is more complex and lengthy, and there is also a penalty – which act as deterrents to the registration of children.  Parents also do not see the need to register their children and so do not actively seek out registration services.  The government is reviewing this Act, which we hope will ensure greater access to registration services for Kenyans.  

Universal birth rights campaign strategy

Plan Kenya's strategy includes mobilising and training community-based organisations and raising awareness of the need to have children registered at birth or late. Awareness-raising also includes outlining the process that they need to follow.  

Outcomes

• Policy and legislation changes 

The government passed the Statistics Act in 2006 to collect data on several issues, including population, vital occurrences and morbidity. This enables the National Board of Statistics to also collect data on birth registrations. Although this change is not attributable to work by Plan, it creates a conducive environment to enhance birth registration. 

• Government capacity and practice

Within Plan Kenya operational areas, there has been increased understanding and awareness of birth registration among government officers.  In some communities, the government has even facilitated some limited decentralisation by allowing local government officers (chiefs) to hand over birth notification cards to community-based organisations.  This means that the organisations can record new births, and support formal government registration by issuing birth notification cards.    

• Community awareness

There has been increased awareness of birth registration in communities where Plan has been working, particularly through use of community-based organisations. Plan has worked in partnership with the Department of Civil Registration as facilitators in the training of chiefs and assistant chiefs.  We have also worked together in creating awareness at the village level.

• The integration of the issue of birth registration with other programmes, such as maternal health

There has been integration with other programmes, including health and learning.  In some areas, community health workers are now issuing birth notification cards, as well as raising awareness of the need to register children during their health visits.  Schools ask for birth certificates when they enrol children at early learning centres as well as primary schools.  Parents are, therefore, increasingly aware of need to ensure their children have birth certificates when enrolling them in school.  

• Tackling the related issues of migration, nationality and statelessness

Raising awareness of birth registration in the communities that border Tanzania empowers them to address issues of nationality that could arise later in the lives of their children.  This is because at 18, every Kenyan is entitled and required to attain an identity card. Security measures are normally more stringent in border areas than other areas, and therefore obtaining an ID could be more difficult once a child reaches 18.  By raising awareness of the right to registration at birth and acquiring a birth certificate, it will be easier for such community members to obtain identity cards and claim their nationality rights.

• Involving children in the UBR campaign

Children have been involved in raising awareness among their parents and peers of the need for registration – particularly at birth.  They are involved in notifying community-based organisation members and community health workers about births in their families and villages to ensure their notification. 

Good practice

• Decentralisation of birth notification services using community-based organisations to carry out birth notification in their villages – the first step in the registration process. 
• Piloting use of ICT in birth registration, enhancing documentation of births and record keeping.

Challenges, gaps and barriers

• Inadequate staffing and resources at the district level as well as to facilitate registration on the ground. This includes equipment such as computers, photocopiers etc. Inefficiencies at registrars’ offices may mean two or three visits to get the certificate – which is cumbersome, expensive and a disincentive to families seeking registration.
• Lack of effective information systems (old files, poor data management). Lack of computerised documentation also means registration is slow and that notifications can be lost, which means that certificates are not issued. There also needs to be systems to replace documents easily, for example, when they are lost in fires, floods or during periods of conflict. 
• Little or no awareness-raising and mobilising to increase registration. Parents have a low awareness of the importance of registration. The civil registration department has not undertaken any community awareness-raising, most of which is done by the local administration and NGOs.  The lack of awareness also means that birth notifications from the chiefs at local village level do not go to the next step of obtaining a certificate. 
• Cost of registration (certificate and travel to district HQ), coupled with the lack of awareness of the importance of registration, are deterrents to getting a birth certificate.  The late registration penalty also hinders families who have not registered their children within six months of their birth.  However, the cost of transport to the registrar’s office can be more than the cost of late registration, and the slowness in processing a certificate can often necessitate an overnight stay in the district headquarter or more than one visit to the registrar’s office. 
• There is a need for better links between government department at the grassroots level – such as the local administration, ministry of health and ministry of education - to facilitate and follow-up registration.  
• Inadequate access to health facilities - as 60% of births occur outside hospitals, many children go unregistered.
• Lack of ID cards and identification for some parents inhibits registration of their children, as they are required to provide proof of their nationality by ID card or birth certificate.
• Cultural inhibitions where some communities do not report deaths, so there are no death certificates to help orphans acquire birth certificates and access other rights.
• Lack of immunisation cards, which are often requested by registration officials.

National level recommendations 

The government of Kenya needs to take ownership of its obligation to ensure access to birth registration for all children born in Kenya.  It needs to work towards increasing the awareness of citizens to register, and setting up accessible and affordable structures and resources to support this.  Plan is working with the government to promote access to and the practice of birth registration.  We are modelling pilots of decentralised registration, as well as use of ICT in birth registration, enhancing their institutional capacity. 

Future activities

UBR will continue to be an obligation of the Kenyan government.  However, with decentralised registration, children, parents and community-based organisations will have a greater role in the awareness of birth registration and increased access to it.