Volta directorate of Births and Deaths records 29,436 births in 2022 

The Volta Regional Directorate of Births and Deaths recorded a total of 29,436 births from January to December 2022.  
 There figure is made up of 14,695 males and 14,741 females. 
 The Region also recorded a total of 3,964 deaths of which 2,075 were males and 1,889 females in the year under review. 
 Mr Stephen Tameklo, the Regional Registration Officer of the Department, disclosed this during n end of year Child Protection Sector Review Meeting, which brought together various institutions responsible for protecting children to take stock of their activities in the year under review. 
 The Registration Officer said the Department recorded the figures as a result of its mass registration exercise organised in all the 18 municipal and districts in the Region. 
 He said registering a child at birth laid the foundation for their future as citizens and it was a vital ingredient that ensured they had access to basic services and could protect them during childhood. 
 Mr Tameklo underscored the importance of death registration, saying it helped in knowing the mortality rate of the country and the statistics also assist policy makers in developing and making proper planning. 
 He said the main mission of the Registry was to provide accurate, reliable and timely information on all births and deaths occurring in the region as well as in the country for socio-economic planning as empowered by Act 1027 of 2020. 
 The Registration Officer said his outfit would be carrying out various activities this year, including intensive outreach programmmes, mobile registration of infant births and education of the public on the importance of births and deaths registration. 
 Mr Tameklo said they aimed to achieve 80 per cent of their annual target by end of 2023, hence personnel at various Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds would be trained on how to collect births information to assist them in that regard. 
 He mentioned inadequate staff, lack of funds to motivate volunteers, lack of office space and accommodation for staff and insufficient logistics as some challenges bedeviling the department and appealed for support to address them. 
 Mrs. Stella Mawusi Mawutor, the Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, noted that 12 districts in the Region were currently implementing the Integrated Social Services (ISS) programme supported by UNICEF. 
 She said the ISS aimed to bring effective collaboration between social service actors for timely sharing of information and data in protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of children. 
 The Director said the ISS was helpful and impacted positively on children and their families and was optimistic that more successes would be achieved if all bottlenecks hampering its smooth implementation were dealt with. 
 She said the implementation of the ISS encouraged parents to be more responsive to the needs of their children and children also were aware of their roles and responsibilities. 
 Mrs Mawutor underscored the need for the assemblies to be encouraged to strengthen support for social services to the vulnerable in society. 
 GNA