Daily Times

The Directorate of Local Government and Rural Development launched Birth Registration Project (BRP) in Mohmand district of tribal areas on Tuesday.

In this connection, a workshop was held at the district headquarters, Ghalanai Jirga Hall, which was attended by Lower Mohmand Assistant Commissioner Touseef Khalid, Local Government and Rural Development Assistant Director Sheraz Ahmad, BRP Merged Districts Project Manager Faisal Saeed, Agency Education Officer Faridullah Khan, District Birth Registration Coordinator Hameed Ullah.

Speaking on the occasion, Local Government Assistant Director Sheraz Ahmad said that the birth registration was started in the district in 2014-15 as a pilot project in two tehsils – Ekkaghund and Haleemzai.

“The pilot phase continued successfully for three years in the area,” he said, adding that the Fata Secretariat wanted to extend the birth registration programme to other parts of the district with the help of UNICEF.

Sheraz Ahmad urged departments’ heads, tribal elders and social workers to convey the message to the rest of the area. He said that male and female facilitators would go to door to door to make tribal people aware of the birth registration process.

AD Sheraz Ahmad urged line departments and community elders to cooperate with birth registration teams in the area.

While starting the birth registration project in the area, Assistant Commissioner Touseef Khalid registered a child on the spot. He said that registration of children was an important step in the development of the area.

He assured that the district administration would fully support the birth registration teams everywhere in the district.

BRP Merged Districts Programme Manager Fasial Saeed said that the main objective of the project was to give children identity as per the constitution of Pakistan and UN charter. BRP District Coordinator Mohmand Hameed Ullah said that that only one percent birth registration had been completed in the merged districts so far. “We will achieve the target of registering 58,628 children in the area.” “A number of social workers and volunteers had also been trained, who would go to house to house for data collection of children in the area,” Hameed said.

Published in Daily Times, October 24^th 2018.