ISLAMABAD: A pilot project was launched in Islamabad on Thursday to augment the present low birth registration rate with the help of cellular technology.

The project jointly launched by Unicef and a cellular company not only aims at increasing the demand for registrations in selected union councils of Sindh and Punjab but also induces a proactive approach towards bringing the birth registration to the public.

It will also play a pivotal role in improved citizen interactions through process optimisation, better planning and management of data for the government, and improved health awareness through the mobile-health (m-health) services.

Currently, the rate of birth registration in Pakistan is quite low due to various socio-economic factors. Time, cost, travel, process hindrances and general lack of awareness contribute towards exacerbating the situation.

Government bodies such as Nadra and the union councils will play an important role in this initiative. Additional components of the plan include mobile birth reporting system, an information portal consisting of a website, central helpline and SMS-based pull requests, public service messages and the m-health services.

On the other hand, the prevalence and adoption of mobile technology in Pakistan has opened avenues that offer unprecedented potential for services and applications for the citizens at large. The pilot project aims to help create an enabling environment by making the process of birth registration user-friendly, and provide facilitation to the citizens and other stakeholders through the use of technology and innovations.

“This project has tremendous implications for the right of every child in Pakistan as birth registration is an important instrument to realise children’s right to health, education and other services and in particular protection against violence, abuse and exploitation,” said Dan Rohrmann, the Unicef representative in Pakistan.

“International experience has shown that innovation and the usage of new technologies significantly facilitate access to basic social services and birth registration is the key to this effect.”

Mohammad Aslam Hayat of the cellular company said they aimed at empowering societies by extending the benefits of telecommunications to the citizens.