All News

26 thousand children are without birth registration in Karnali province. As per the National Census 2021, there are a total of 24,638 children under the age of five in the Karnali region.Based on the census data, it is reported that 25,990 children’s births remain unregistered.

Child marriage is more common in Karnali due to which the marriages and the birth of the children are not registered. It may be because they do not know that their children’s birth should be registered on time. In addition,Despite the option to register the birth of a child with an unknown father, it appears that such births are not being registered according to the census data.

No child should be prohibited from birth registration, according to government policy, yet it appears that this policy has not been adequately put into practice.

Local government plays a vital role in the implementation of this policy, yet it appears that there is a lack of attention on this matter by local government authorities. The Chief of the National Human Rights Commission in Jumla, Dhanraj Shahi, has expressed that the local government appears to be indifferent to social development.

He mentioned that the local government hasn’t allocated a budget towards awareness in this direction. Instead, all the budget is being directed towards physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and building construction.

Birth registration is the right of children, however, not all citizens are aware of birth registration. The Ministry of Social Development has initiated awareness programs to identify children who have been excluded from birth registration and find out the reasons for it.

Anita Gyawali, Chief of the  Women, Children, and Senior Citizens Division of the Ministry, emphasized the importance of registering the birth of all children and initiated various awareness programs aiming to provide legal information regarding birth registration.

Mandutta Rawal