Henrietta Lamptey
Ghana’s Births and Deaths Registry (BDR) has called on the public to give it the needed support as it continuously work towards improving its services across the country.
Madam Henrietta Lamptey, Registrar, Births and Deaths Registry, said the agency which is under the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development though faced with myriads of challenges, has in the last few years rolled out various programmes and activities to make its services more accessible to the public.
“Births and Deaths Registry has revamped its systems. Through the Public Sector Reforms for Result Project and the World Bank, the Registry has changed the face of registration with technology – we have a new system that has significantly improved the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of our work, a functioning website and call centre among others,” she stated.
According to her, the BDR has a mandate to ensure timely and accurate registration of all births and deaths in Ghana.
Madam Lamptey said though it’s function may seem bureaucratic, it forms a critical sector of the country’s development to plan effectively, allocate resources efficiently and ensure that every citizen’s existence is recognised and protected under the laws of Ghana.
She said the registry in the last three years has improved its services with online registration, digital payment platform and registered over 90% of children under 1 year.
She said the online registration and payment among other innovations are all aimed at improving service delivery without the difficulty of seeking the assistance of middle men, popularly called ‘goro’ boys.
She was speaking during a workshop the BDR organised for selected media personnel on Monday. The workshop, she went on, was the starting point of building a sustainable partnership with the media, to equip them with key information required on births and deaths registration processes to enhance the accuracy of reporting and advocacy in improving registration data from the grassroots, especially death registration.
Madam Lamptey has been selected to chair the maiden African Electronic Registration Civil System Advisory Board.
According to her, the Board is expected to expedite the deployment of electronic Civil Registration and vital statistics systems (eCRVS) across Africa.
She added that the Board would also promote standardisation and harmonisation to meet the continent’s needs in Civil Registration and vital statistics.
Madam Lamptey further indicated that although Births and Deaths Registry is found in over 261 districts across the country, it has also embarked on the implementation of community population registers in 25 communities in  five (5) regions.
She said the communities in regions such as Eastern, Bono East, Ahafo among others will have opportunity to register births in the remotest parts of the region.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah