Is Digital Bangladesh inclusive of all children?

Bangladesh observes National Children's Day on March 17. Since 2009, this day has been celebrated across the country to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Bangabandhu formulated the Children Act 1974 to provide primary education for all children. Later, his political party, Bangladesh Awami League followed in his footsteps and is working towards Bangabandhu's commitment to transforming the country into a haven for children. 

Since 2008, the Government of Bangladesh has been working towards the goal of creating a digital Bangladesh, fostering information technology and inclusive growth. 

The question is, does this transformation of digital Bangladesh miss out on the most vulnerable ones – the street children?

The first step towards a child's security is to ensure his/her identity as a citizen of the country. Bangladesh has been a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child since 1990. 

Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OHCHR) states that every child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name; the right to acquire a nationality, and as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by parents. 

Additionally, Article 8 provides that where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to re-establishing, speedily, his or her identity. 

A birth certificate is therefore essential because, without it, a child is invisible/non-existent to their government. They would be excluded from essential programs such as child protection, healthcare, and education. 

In October 2010, the Bangladesh government piloted a central online digital system for birth registration in 30 districts, known as the Birth and Death Registration Information System (BDRIS). 

In 2013, this system was expanded to include the local government registration centres of all 64 districts. From 2021, birth registration is a necessary procedure for every citizen. 

The government has mandated the requirement of birth certificates for 18 major services including passport registration/renewal, opening bank accounts, school admission, marriage registration, land registration, etc.

According to the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 2004, the birth of any Bangladeshi child has to be registered within 45 days of the birth with a specified birth register (Bangladesh Missions abroad if born outside Bangladesh). Registration of birth is free of charge if done within 45 days of birth, after which a fee is applicable. 

However, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Co-operatives reported that only 9% of the total births were registered between April and June 2021, while the registration rate was 21% between July and September 2021. 

In other words, 75,356 births were registered between April to June 2021, and 7,53,435 births were registered between July – September 2021. 

UNICEF data shows that only 37% of children under the age of five are currently registered, which means 10 million children under the age of five do not officially exist.

A notable segment of the population that falls out of the birth registration process is street children. These children do not have any permanent address and sometimes do not know the names of either or both parents - all of which are necessary to obtain a birth certificate. 

Previously, many child welfare organisations and shelter homes used their addresses to register the births of street children. But the current online birth registration system makes it impossible for street children to obtain a birth certificate as the new requirements include providing a permanent address; names, and birth registration numbers of both parents to complete the birth registration of any child who falls under the purview of Births and Deaths Registration Act 2004. Otherwise, the application cannot be completed.

On the contrary, according to child rights activists and lawyers, the 2018 declaration regarding birth and death registration states that the births of fatherless or orphaned children can be registered. 

A registrar cannot refuse to register any births or deaths due to a lack of such information. In cases where information is indeed missing or unknown, it could simply be filled as 'unavailable' to complete the registration. 

This provision has not been incorporated into the current digital system to accommodate the registration of street children or orphans. The current system additionally requires one to provide both parents' birth registration numbers, which the street children and orphans can never provide. As a result, they face difficulties later in life. In this sense, the current system is discriminatory.

Street children fall behind on primary education as school enrollment requires a valid birth certificate. Even if they manage to acquire primary education through NGOs or other organisations, they are deprived of secondary or higher education for not having a birth certificate. 

Basic healthcare rights and vaccinations for diseases could also be difficult to obtain for not having a valid birth certificate in a fully digitalised system soon. 

The digital BDRIS has seen numerous revisions and updates till now, so could a separate form for these underprivileged children not be easily implemented as well? 

This form can be filled out by registered NGOs, organisations and union councillors etc., aiding the government to keep track of the population of this cluster as well.

Child activists also state that unregistered children are at a higher risk of falling into crime as they have limited educational opportunities. Without any formal identification, the likelihood of being caught or tracked is lower; hence these children get lured to commit a crime or get involved in prostitution in some cases. 

It seems obvious that a smooth, inclusive birth registration system would help alleviate much of these issues. Allowing provision for registering births without a permanent address or parental information could include street children and orphans into the system. 

The low registration levels also show that there is a general lack of awareness regarding the necessity of birth registration. Often parents only realise the need to register the birth of their child when enrolling them into school as the document is mandatory for admission. 

Hence the December-February period sees the highest traffic on the BDRIS website and applications take much longer to process.

Should the government enforce birth registration even earlier on to avoid such cases? As all children need to be given the necessary vaccines as early as 6 weeks after birth, could birth registration be mandated there?

In the past, the immunisation program took more precedence than birth registration. Hence, even though newborn/children vaccination cards had allocated space for the birth registration number, it was not required. 

At present, everyone in Bangladesh has successfully been made aware of the importance of the mass immunisation program, which enables the enforcement of birth registration as per the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 2004 during a child's first immunisation.

In the future, this process should be further promoted by using biometric technology which would help track registrations and prevent duplication. There is significant research going on in infant biometrics where it shows promise that infant biometrics can be successfully scanned/extracted and identified, using their big toes or palm scan.

If these can be successfully implemented, birth registration can be easily done after birth at the hospitals or when a child comes for their first immunisation, truly ensuring that "no child is left behind".

Nutan Farah Haq is a Senior Research Associate at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development.

Tahmid Bin Mahmud is a Research Associate at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.