Addis Ababa: Minister of Home Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma emphasised the critical impact of a credible civil registration system on national security at a media briefing held in Ethiopia today (Friday).
Minister Dlamini Zuma said, “Civil registration is important for countries and the lives of a nation. A critical element of an effective civil registration system is for countries to ensure the security of their National Population Registers (NPR). The NPR is the most reliable and important database of our population.”
She said that the landmark conference of Ministers responsible for civil registration is a clear demonstration of African Governments’ political will to address challenges facing the continent regarding the importance of having an efficient and effective civil registration and vital statistics systems.
“Effective civil registration systems are a cradle to grave service impacting on births, marriages, deaths and divorces. Thus, as governments, we will be able to plan efficiently for the delivery of quality services to all citizens. Governments can only provide quality services to its citizens in the areas of health, education, social pensions, child grants, and housing through effective planning and the use of reliable statistics,” she said.
Dr Dlamini Zuma and her counterparts from 53 countries are attending the inaugural Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa today. The conference concludes tomorrow.
The two day conference, jointly hosted by African Union Commission, the United Nations and the African Development Bank, is deliberating on a range of issues related to civil registration and is expected to finalise a proposal for a medium term regional civil registration and vital statistical plan for recommendation and adoption by the African Union Heads of State and Government.
In preparation for the two day Ministerial Summit, an expert group of officials met since Tuesday to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations for a unified approach towards a continent wide civil registration and vital statistics strategy. Since the commencement of the week long deliberations, South Africa’s own National Population
Registration campaign, led by Minister Dlamini Zuma, has been used as the benchmark for civil registration.
Participants also praised Dr Dlamini Zuma for her leadership on this critical matter in South Africa and the continent. It is anticipated that by the conclusion of the two day conference, mechanisms would be put in place for a high level regional platform for sustained engagement between national governments, sub regional and regional organisations that will ensure a unified approach towards establishing best practices for civil registration.
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