Sri Lanka: Mobile birth registration service

Plan Sri Lanka and the registrar general’s department are conducting a series of birth registration mobile events throughout Ratnapura, Kandy, Matale, Moneragala, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya as part of the universal birth registration (UBR) project.

While Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of birth registration in Asia, the UBR project aims to assist the estimated six percent of Sri Lankan citizens who are unregistered. These tend to be some of the most vulnerable communities - including estate workers and street children.

Plan’s UBR campaign which was launched in February this year has been fully endorsed by President Mahainda Rajapakse.

The campaign aims to enable all individuals to become legally recognised citizens of their country. With a birth certificate individuals in Sri Lanka can access social services such as education and health, prove their age and protect themselves from underage marriage or child labour. They can also obtain a national identity card to prove their citizenship and protect their basic rights. 

The registrar general of Sri Lanka, Mr. L.K Rathnasiri and his department have been heavily involved in all facets of the UBR project, producing awareness raising materials for the public, capacity building documents for civil registration staff and overseeing the birth certificate application process for more than 7,000 people to date.

To date more than 35,000 people, men, women and children, have attended awareness-raising workshops conducted by Plan Sri Lanka and its partner Sewa Lanka Foundation.In addition, the project has facilitated local community members in project areas to mobilise into action groups on issues related to human rights.