The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has launched the Ghana Card Number at Birth initiative.
From yesterday, March 14, 2024 every Ghanaian child born in an accredited health facility will be given a Ghana Card Number at birth.
The initiative was launched on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the Ga North Municipal Hospital, where children about six weeks old after birth, will be given the national identification card number.
According to the Vice President, the initiative is a revolutionary step forward in integrating and enhancing Ghana’s national identity system.
“Government of Ghana, through collaborative efforts with the Ghana Health Service, the Births and Deaths Registry (BDR), the Ghana Statistical Service and the National Identification Authority (NIA), has now integrated these systems,” he said.
The Vice President explained that the integration ensures that every child born in Ghana is immediately provided with a unique identity, linking them to their mother’s identity and securing their place within the national identity system.
NOT JUST A CARD
He explained further that the Ghana Card number at Birth is not just an identification, but a promise to children of a future where their identity and rights are recognised from their very first breath.
He said it was a testament to the commitment to building an effective, efficient, responsive and accountable public sector that meets the needs of the Ghanaian citizenry.
According to Vice President Bawumia, an effective and efficient implementation of this system offers numerous benefits to mothers and children.
“Firstly, it provides a systematic and efficient method of registering births, ensuring that every child becomes part of the system from birth.
“This addresses a longstanding issue in Ghana where many births remain unregistered due to factors such as remote locations and insufficient awareness about the importance of birth registration”
The system, he indicated, also facilitates access to healthcare, education and social welfare programs, safeguarding the rights and entitlements of both mothers and children.
Ghana, he noted, has made significant progress in improving healthcare access in recent years, and initiatives like the Ghana Card Number at Birth further contribute to ensuring that all citizens can avail themselves of essential services.
He continued: “Additionally, this solution leads to the digitization of birth registration and identification processes, enhancing the security and integrity of personal data while reducing the risk of identity fraud.”
It would also help greatly in the fight against Child Trafficking, as rescued children can be reunited with their families, he added.
EC TO USE DATA
The Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Kenneth Attafuah, in his remarks said that the Electoral Commission (EC) can rely on the data from the National Identity Register for elections.
He emphasised the importance of the National Identity Register and the personal identification numbers that are now being assigned to every child born in Ghana.
“I’m particularly happy that with the registration of over 17. 8 million Ghanaians onto the National Identity Register of Ghanaians aged 15 and above, we now begin to look at the base. Your Excellency, today, commencing today, the personal identification number will be given to every child born in this country, I mean every Ghanaian.
“So, permit me to conclude by saying that with this critical milestone beginning today, contestations about age, contestations about citizenship will all be a thing of the past.
“As we say football age will no longer exist and with that all the other falsehoods, all the other centres of contentions will begin to evaporate. Our national election will be cleaner. We should be able, indeed, in my personal view, we should be able, beginning this year, to rely on the National Identity register to vote as Ghanaians because we have the cleanest in our history and our future.”
