THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

DEPARTMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR GENERAL (REGISTRAR GENERAL)

A Country Paper for presentation at the Eastern and Southern Africa Conference
on Universal Birth Registration
“Improving Services to Protect the Rights of the Most Vulnerable Children”
Mombasa, Kenya, 26-30 September 2005

Registrar General’s Office

Office of the Administrator General
Simu Street
P. O. Box 9183
Telephone No. 255-22-2123325
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania

August 2005

1.0 Introduction
Globally, birth registration is among the vital sources of statistical information. However,
Tanzania has not been able to rely on this system for its information due to the low coverage
where only 19% of births are registered.
Births (and deaths) registration in Tanzania Mainland are governed by the Births and Deaths
Registration Act, cap.108 of the Revised Laws 2002. The law came into force on 1 st April 1921.
Prior to that, births and deaths were governed by Proclamation No. 15 of 1917 (Civil Area).
Zanzibar was the first country in East Africa to establish birth and death registration system.
The Birth and Death Registration Decree was first introduced in Zanzibar in 1909. Since then
the Decree has been going through many amendments the last of which was in 1993. This is
why the Decree is now quoted as “Birth and Death Registration Decree Cap. 90 of 1953]”

Both laws provided for compulsory registration of births and deaths for non-Africans whereas for
the Africans it was voluntary.
In the mainland the office responsible for administration of the above mentioned law is the
office of the Registrar General which is in the Department of the Administrator General -
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Under the Registrar General, there are district
registrars of births and deaths for each district in Tanzania Mainland.
The district registrars are required to register births or deaths occurring in their districts and
submit returns to the Registrar General who is the custodian of the registration data
Before 1961, births or deaths involving Africans (who were and still are the majority) were not
compulsorily registered. Compulsory registration on births or deaths involving Africans was
introduced gradually through Government Notices in early eighties starting with few regions
and expands as the vital registration system been established in the regions. However, that was
not accessible to majority of people because registration centres were located only at district
headquarters which in most cases were in urban areas, very far away from the villages where
most of the people live. In addition, the process used to introduce registration procedures with
partial awareness to rural people; hence most of children born of Tanzanian rural parents are
not registered.
To solve the problem of non-registration, the Government with the assistance of UNFPA in 1980
and UNICEF in 2000 established registration centres in Hospitals, Health Centres and
Dispensaries and in some places in Village Government offices (for the villages which are very
far from the health facilities). This move was aimed to ensure that births or deaths are registered
immediately at a place of their occurrence. Furthermore, compulsory registration was extended
to cover most part of the country and has now covered the whole country. This move has to some
extent assisted to ease the problem of non-registration of births and deaths but has not solved
the problem due to the issues further elaborated in section 5.

2.0 Status of Birth Registration

In general, the registration of births in Tanzania is low. According to the1999 Reproductive and
Child Health Survey in Tanzania, the registration of births with certificates was only 6.4% and a
child was more likely to be registered in urban than in rural areas (Rural 2.9% and urban
21.8%). However, according to the 2004/05 DHS results, the figures have shown very slight
improvements in both urban and rural areas (see the graph below).

In Zanzibar, the 1999 survey revealed that, the rate of births registered with certificates was
higher than that of Mainland - 68.9% (Pemba (52.4) and Unguja (84.4%).

2
According to the Demographic and Health Survey of 2004/05, a proportion of children under
the age six years (19%) births have registered with notification, but no certificate issued. The
disparity, in Tanzania Mainland between Urban and Rural is very clear - urban is 50.3% and
rural is 11.4%. Although the proportion of children in the rural areas with birth notification is
11.4%, about one third of them – (4%) have birth certificates. This is a manifestation of the
problems related to acquiring birth certificate for children living in the rural areas.

There is great variation in birth registration across geographical regions. The regional estimate
from the 2004/05 survey indicates that children under the age of six years whose births are
reported as registered without certificates ranges from 88.7% in Mjini Magharibi – Zanzibar to
6.4 % in Shinyanga - Tanzania Mainland (the coverage is indicated in the map below).

The map above it is clear that the coverage of birth registration in Zanzibar is higher than in the
Mainland. High rates of registration in Zanzibar are due to the fact that people are more aware
of the use of birth certificate since most people travel outside Zanzibar, and have to use
passports which are only issued upon having a valid birth certificate .

3.0 Progress towards Universal Birth Registration

Various efforts have been made through support from UNICEF to ensure that the system is
established in places where it does not exist and to strengthen in places where it already exist
but is weak. The maps below indicate the situation in 2002 and 2005.

The number of birth registered in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar has also shown some
increase from the year 2002 to 2004. The graphs below illustrate the trend.

3
4.0 Efforts made
In 2001, UNICEF through the Administrator General’s Office started to support the Compulsory
Registration Programme (CRP) as part of its child labour prevention project. The objective was
not only to ensure all births and deaths are registered, but also that registered children are
issued with birth certificates.

Birth certificates are critical for children especially for initial enrolment to primary schools as it
provide will be evidence of actual age of a child. The other reason for the birth certificate is to
assist in combating child labour – this is because the age of a child will be known and it is
therefore easier to identify children who are supposed to be in schools rather working.

The support initially targeted two districts of Mufindi and Makete in Iringa Region where child
labour was being practiced at alarming rates. Later, the support was extended to cover the
remaining districts bringing the total number of regions implementing the CRP in Tanzania
Mainland to 14 out of a total of 21 regions. Later the system was established in remaining
seven regions in the Mainland.

UNICEF at the end of last year also supported the office of Register General with a total of four
computers to facilitate storage of records in the office. The computerization of the Tanzania
mainland registrar General’s office will be implemented after the computerization of Zanzibar
registrar office completed with technical support from National Bureau of Statistics. Since
Mainland and Zanzibar are using the same type of form in vital registration system it will be
easier to learn and applied the same software developed for Zanzibar. The Zanzibar office
started computerization this year and the new system will be up and running by January 2006.

4.1 Involvement of community

Since one of the major constraints for processing birth certificates was awareness of leaders and
community in general, training was therefore organized to raise awareness. The training
involved leaders from district to community level. During the training it was emphasised that
community leaders have a vital role to play in facilitating the registration process. As a result of
the training the leaders are facilitating the communities to obtain birth certificates by collecting
the birth notifications and fees from parents and submitting them to the District Administrative
Officers for issuance of birth certificates.
In all seven regions UNICEF supported, the vital registration system includes the following
activities:-
• Awareness seminars to district, division, ward and village leaders (with emphasis on the
ward executive officers and village executive officers to facilitate the availability of

4
 certificate at village level and serve as a link between individuals and District
Administrative Secretary office.
• Training of health facility staff and village executive officer on how to fill the vital registers
storage, reporting and replenish the registers.
• Training staff at DAS office on handling, storage and reporting
• Distribution of vital registers
• Registrars at Administrative Generals Officer and District Administrative Secretary office
conduct a supportive supervision and follow-up (to minimize the error especially on how to
fill the forms in the new areas)
• Registration of the new regions with established vital registration systems in the
government gazette

Meanwhile collaborative efforts between Administrator General’s Office and UNICEF are been
made to train leaders and communities in the other 14 regions of Mainland where the leaders
have not been involved.

4.2 Linkages

• The Local Government structure

The birth registration system in Tanzania is decentralized in keeping with the local Government
structure. The structure starts from the smallest level called hamlet which consists of about 50
households. Five hamlets make up one village and four to six villages constitute a ward. Several
wards (between 2 to 5) make a division, while 4-7 divisions make a district. This kind of
structure has facilitated establishment of vital registration system.

• Village registration system

In each village of the Tanzania Mainland there is a registration system which requires every
individual living in a village to register. The register contains information about all the people in
the village and is updated as events of births or deaths or migration occurs. The interventions
include follow-up to ensure that the registers are adequately filled and updated . The hamlet
chairperson is the one who update the village with support from village executive officer and
village health worker. Therefore, the vital registration system will provide supportive documents
for village registration system to ensure the events have correct dates.

• Immunization Programme
The birth notifications are issued by health facility staffs that are also responsible for
vaccinating children. Linking birth notification with immunization activities has facilitated the
increase in coverage because immunization is implemented all over the country with very high
coverage. In order to reach all the children in the country, there is a need to work very close
with Ministry of Health – EPI Programme to ensure immunization is always combined with birth
registration process.

4.3 Involvement of other partners

In the Mainland, PLAN Tanzania has plans to provide support to a national wide campaign. The
main purpose of the campaign is to increase awareness and involvement of community and
district leadership. In Zanzibar, UNDP is supporting computerization of vital registration system.
5.0 Incentives to registration
5
Together with efforts which will be employed in ensuring universal birth registration, there are
already certain incentives which have started to compel people to register births and deaths.

• The law
The law governing births registration makes it compulsory for every births occurring in Tanzania
Mainland to be registered. At first births involving Africans were not compulsory registered but
now compulsory registration has been extended to cover all births and deaths occurring in
Tanzania Mainland regardless of ones race. The law goes further by making it a criminal offence
punishable with a fine or imprisonment for failure or refusal to register a birth or death. Efforts
will be made to ensure that law is well known by all people including the community.

• Demand by Authorities
Since birth certificate is now demanded by various authorities – schools, colleges, employers
and migration, majority are compelled to acquire births certificates. As a result of this there is
now increased demand for birth certificates than in previous years.

6.0 Challenges
Despite of all the efforts made so far there are some important challenges which need to be
addressed in order to ensure that universal birth registration is attained.

• Lack of policy and legislative mandate to ensure accountability and coordination

The coordination between registration centres at the district level and the Registrar General’s
office is not bound by the law. The officers of registration centre i.e. hospitals, health centres,
dispensaries and village government office, have no legal duty to register and submit returns to
the district registrars. In that context, every thing is done in good will and therefore the issue of
accountability is weak.

• Lack of Law enforcement to make Birth Certificate Compulsory

Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child outline the importance of children to be
registered and given a right to a name and nationality (article 7) in Tanzania mainland the Birth
& Death Registration Act, cap. 108 of the Revised Laws 2002 provide the right to register but
there is no concrete mechanism to ensure that the law is enforced. Also ministry of health are
not reporting on the levels of birth registered as is not included in the Health Management
Information System.

• Insufficient awareness and understanding

More efforts are still required to ensure that all parents are aware of the importance of birth
registration; and that the community itself should continue to be instrumental in awareness
raising and advocating for importance of birth registration.
There is also inadequate understanding on the specific registration procedures, mostly at
community level but also at other levels of the system.

• Long distance to the registration centres down to village level

Although there is decentralization of registration centres, still there are some places where
people are still living far from those registration centres and therefore efforts must be employed
to ensure the registration is further decentralized to allow the process to take place close to
those communities.

6
 • Cost implication
Registration of birth (notification) is free within 90days and 30 days in the Mainland and
Zanzibar respectively. However, late registration has to be charged certain fee according to the
age of a child. The actual birth certificate is not free; one would be required to pay USD 3.5 in
order to get the certificate. This amount does not include travelling and associated costs.

• Low Human resource capacity

The Registrar General’s office has insufficient human resource to handle all the work including
training and follow-ups in the registration centres for the entire country. Currently the
Registrar General has only 39 employees in the districts ( there are more that 120 districts in
Tanzania Mainland ). Some of the districts are manned by personnel who are not employees of
the Registrar General. The Registrar General plans to employ officers in every district.

• Lack of Information Communication Technology (ICT)

Almost all these activities are done manually starting from the registration centres to the office
of Registrar General. Lack of computerized system makes the work very tedious and it takes
time to retrieve any information from the headquarters.

• Insufficient registration materials

Registration process including notification requires stationery and storage facilities, such as
forms, registers and cabinets for all registration centres in the country. It is difficult to sustain
the level of resources to ensure on-going supply of these materials and while such costs can not
be borne by Government alone, no alternative mechanism of funding has been identified.

• Government resource allocation

Resource allocation from Government for vital registration activities is critical as the
Administrator General’s office will soon become an executive agency. This means that a
financing strategy for the national vital registration system has to be worked out urgently.

• Mobilization and harmonization UN and other agencies support

Some UN agencies such as UNFPA used to support birth registration in 1979 to 1984 and UNDP
is supporting Zanzibar. The challenge here is to ensure there is a common strategy for UN to
support birth registration process in the country. Other parties, such as PLAN international
have plans to support Birth a registration activity in Tanzania but there is a need for common
work plan.

7.0 The way forward

• Revitalization of National Team on Vital Registration System

A national team on vital registration was once in existences comprised of members from
Ministry of Health, Education, Community Development Gender and Children and Home
affairs, President Office Regional Administration and local Government, National Bureau of
Statistics and other interested partners. The last meeting was held in 1999 under the
chairperson from PORALG. There are plans to revitalization of National team which will also
help to guide the planning for national campaign. Also new members will be broadening to
include other relevant partners like Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and Vice President
Office-Poverty Monitoring. It is expected the National team will map out the roles of each

7
member and come-up with an implementation and financing plan to fully mainstream and
institutionalize the national vital registration system in Tanzania. The role of the team is to set
the targets for vital registration system for the national and regions/districts.

• Increasing awareness
As noted earlier there is still insufficient awareness on the importance of registration and birth
certificate.
The Registrar General in collaboration with PLAN International -Tanzania and UNICEF will
launch a massive campaign on 15 th November, 2005 to create awareness on the importance of
registration of births and deaths. A similar event is to be conducted annually as National Vital
registration Week at agreed time.

• Use of special events

In Tanzania annually there is commemoration of special days such as Day of the African Child
(June 16 th) and Village Health Days – held on quarterly bases. These special events can also be
used more regularly as one opportunity not only to promote vital registration but to follow-up for
the non-registered children.
• Computerization of the registration system
Vital registration records are kept and processed manually. To improve the efficiency of the
office of Registrar General and registration centres all registration activities will be computerized
using software develop for Zanzibar.

• Manpower
In the National office of Registrar General there are only four people who are working on vital
registration system. Currently the Registrar General has only 39 employees in the districts (
there are more that 120 districts in Tanzania Mainland ). Some of the districts are manned by
personnel who are not employees of the Registrar General. They will be a need to review this
capacity when the demand increases.

• Transport
Registration forms need to be distributed and collected from registration centres. Most centres
are located in places were there is no reliable public transport. As a result of this the returns
are delayed or lost on the way to headquarters and sometimes returns of registered events are
damaged while awaiting collection to district offices.
The government is planning to establish an agency which among other matters will be
responsible for vital registration activities in the country. The five year (2005-2010) Strategic
Plan for the agency (Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency) is in place. The agency
will establish mobile services to ensure that registration and issuing of certificates follows the
clients where they are located.

• Registration materials (forms, certificates)

Efforts are being made to ensure that the Registrar General has sufficient funds to fund its
activities. The efforts include mobilization of funds from different key players. Also there is a
need for continues availability of resources for printing, distribution and storage

• Formalization relationship with other services/structures

8
The registrar general with the support of the national team will articulate the role and assist
formalizing the terms of reference for various key players. Also to ensure that vital registration
activities are well linked to the ongoing programmes and services in the country.

Ministry of Health
In Tanzania the immunization coverage is very high over 90%. Immunization services as reach
most of children before 90 days. The same people are also issuing the birth notifications on
good will. Also to use the Ministry of health annual meeting with District Medical Officer’s,
Regional medical Officers, Maternal Reproductive and Child Health coordinator to sensitize and
share the status of vital registration.

President Office Regional Administration and local Government

The office has employees up to village level. The employees particularly Ward Executive Officers
and Village Executive Officers will be involved in the promotion of vital registration activities in
their respective locations.
There will be collaboration with PORLAG to institutionalize vital registration activities in the TOR’
s of WEO & VEO.
Ministry of Education and Culture
To educate and demand birth certificates during the enrolment of standard one. Also use
child-to-child technique to educate and promote vital registration activities.

Ministry of Home Affairs

Since the Ministry will continue to demand certificate as one of documents required for people
applied for passport, the ministry will be included in the national team which will be working
together to promote vital registration activities

National Bureau of Statistics

Encourage the NBS and others to demand and use the data produced from the vital registration
system.

Ministry of Community Development Gender and Children

The community development officers mobilize communities for development activities and vital
registration part of the mobilization.

Social welfare department

To use the vital registration records to facilitate welfare support especially for the orphans.

9
8. ANNEXES

Annex 1
Procedure of Birth registration

1. Normal Registration
The law provides for registration of birth within three months for mainland and 42 days for Zanzibar.
Any birth registered within the three months is normal registration. Under this system, one should
obtain a notification from the health facility prepared to provide information to the Registrar General
on the birth. There is no standard format for the births that occur at home. In some cases, a
certificate of baptism supports the application for registration or a notification issued by the village
executive officers is used.

2. Late Registration
All births registered after three months are considered as late registrations. These are categorised
into two:

i. Any child born alive but not registered in the first three months but is within the age of three
months to ten years can be registered at the district office by using form BD15. This form is
available at the District office only.
ii. Any child born alive but not registered, and his/her age is between ten years and above, should
be registered by using forms BD 15A. This form is available at the district office only.

Registration charges
The registration fees are of three categories:
1. Those with birth notification pay 3,500 Tsh (2000 for certificate fee and 1500 fee for searching
the documents);
2. Those without birth notification, but within ninety one (91) days to ten (10) years pay 4,000
(2000 for certificate fee and 2000 penalty fee );
3. Those without birth notification, but their age is above ten (10) years, pay 10,000 (2000 for
certificate fee and 8,000 penalty fee).
Although the law makes the registration of birth compulsory, it does not compel parents to have birth
certificates.

Responsibility
The registration of birth is the statutory duty of the father or mother. In the absence of the father
and mother, a relative or another person present at the time of birth or have knowledge of the birth
of the child or the person taking care of the child is required to take responsibility.

The registration law does not discriminate who are to be registered. Even children of the refugees
are and must be registered alongside their counterparts i.e. the nationals. Foreigners are also
required to register their children born alive in the country. However, the birth certificate has to
show the true nationality status of the parent (annex 2 birth certificate).

10
Annex 2

Annex 3

THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH NO:0001245

11
 No. of Where Name if Sex Name Father’s Father’s Name Mother ’s Mother ’s Signature, Date Dat
entry born any and occupation nationality and occupation nationality description of regi
surname and maiden and & residence birth
of father residence name of residence of informant
mother

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

ficate under the Birth and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap.108 of the Laws). To be a true copy of an entry in the
ter in my custody of Births for the District of ………………… in Tanzania. Dated this …………… day of ……
.……………………

DISTRICT REGISTRAR
Fee Paid TShs. 2,000/=
---------------------------
DSM 3620/7-02/5M OF 100lvs

12