Plan International donate laptops, servers to strengthen birth, civil registration

The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has received a donation of laptops and servers from Plan International to strengthen birth and civil registration in Tororo and Adjumani districts.

Speaking during the handover of the items worth sh114m at Plan International head offices in Bugolobi, the head of programmes, Greg Lavender, said 23 laptops and one server will be used to support decentralization of birth registration in 23 sub counties from Tororo while 10 laptops and one server will be used in Adjumani.

Lavender said the donation is part of the organization’s goal of advancing the rights of children in Uganda. 

John Kizito Wanjala, Head of Planning and Strategy, NIRA (left) and Greg Lavender, Head of Programmes, Plan International (right) signing documents during the handover of IT assets and servers

“Birth Registration is a right that every child should enjoy. We are certain that the equipment will go a long way in supporting government efforts towards birth registration and issuing of the related certificates," he said.

He revealed that once a birth is registered, the birth certificate is the legal document that establishes an individual’s existence in the eyes of the law.

“If we don’t know who and where the most marginalised children are, it is very difficult to support them to improve their lives,’’ he said

Subsequently, from 2016-2019, Plan International Uganda under the Digital Birth Registration project, implemented a 3-year grant on strengthening birth registration systems in Uganda in partnership with NIRA, with funding from Sweden National Office and Australia National office.

The program targeted new-born boys and girls and unregistered boys and girls in the target locations- in the districts of Tororo, Lira, Kamuli and Adjumani refugee settlement.

The head of planning and strategy, John Kizito Wajala, said the partnership means a lot, adding that they will be able to carry out birth registration in the targeted districts.

Photo caption: Iveta Ouvry, Country Director, Plan International (second left) hands over IT assets and servers to  Stephen Kasumba, Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation (left) and John Kizito Wanjala, Head of Planning and Strategy NIRA (second right). Photos by Shamim Saad