The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) of Haiti organized a series of public awareness workshops for religious and community leaders on the importance of civil registry and on the necessity for all newborns to be provided with a birth certificate. More than 500 people from the communes of Delmas and Cité Soleil participated in the workshops, which ended today.

The MJSP, with technical support from the OAS, is implementing pilot projects in Delmas and Cité Soleil which seek to modernize the registration systems of the civil registry offices and public hospitals of Chancerelle and Saint Catherine. Other initiatives undertaken in the pilots include providing support in terms of infrastructure, human resources, and registration materials; and the organization of training seminars for civil registry clerks.

The active participation of inspectors, officers and employees of the Civil Registry, hospital staff, communication agents and everyone else involved in these pilot projects will help develop a methodology to modernize civil registry processes nationwide and to increase registration in Haiti.

The pilot projects and the public awareness workshops are part of the Modernization and Integration of Haiti’s Civil Registry Project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

HL/ HaitiLibre