Africa-Press – Angola. The national director of Identification, Registration and Notary of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (MINJUSDH), Aristides Marques, stated that late registration is declared from the age of 14, under the terms of article 125 of the Civil Registration Code.
However, he said, all external services linked to the National Directorate of Identification, Registration and Notary (DNIRN) were instructed to change the procedures for carrying out late registration.
“Late registration normally takes place in each of the provinces without any problems. It should be noted that late registration is an exception to the rule and is treated more strictly and with more cautious procedures,” he said.
According to the national director, any process that is received must be sent for analysis by the respective Provincial Delegations of Justice and Human Rights. “When complexity so requires, these processes are sent to the National Directorate of Identification, Registration and Notaries”, he explained.
“This procedure requires specific rules and procedures and when they are not followed, the consequences are visible, such as duplication of records, document fraud to change data for undeclared purposes and registration of foreigners”, he said.
The consequences, he added, are serious for the country, because the majority of citizens who come to request these registrations are not Angolan.
“Citizens who contact our services and meet the requirements of article 125 of the Civil Registry Code must submit their application and wait for a response after due assessment”, he advised.
Free registration
Regarding the free birth registration program, the national director said that it is proceeding at a good pace and the issuing of the Identity Card for the first time continues to be free of fees.
“It is a measure taken to implement public policies to encourage all Angolan citizens to register their children, without any financial constraints”, he recalled.
Regarding adults or minors without civil registration, Aristides Marques stated that the State maintains an interest in safeguarding the rights of citizens, creating the material and human conditions so that registration services are available without any problems.
“We have a large migratory flow from the 17 provinces to Luanda and many of these adults and children have records in their respective areas of birth, but due to loss or their own decision, they decide to process a new document in the capital”, he explained, adding that this procedure creates constraints and difficulties for those who do so.
According to the national director, another concern is the cultural issue. In many parts of the country, he stressed, parents do not register their children, waiting for them to grow up and only do so when they realize that they have their physical or behavioral traits. “This day almost never comes and the consequences are very visible. Many children end up being deprived of this right, due to the fault of those who are primarily responsible for making it effective”, he lamented.
Registration campaigns
To minimize the phenomenon, Aristides Marques said, the State has done a lot, from massive birth registration campaigns and the granting of Identity Cards to children and adults during school start and holiday periods to registration campaigns and the granting of Identity Cards abroad.
The MINJUSDH, he said, has been working with the Ministry of Territorial Administration to expand services throughout the national territory, including in the most remote areas, based on the “Caminho Junto” project.
The official informed that there are 32 services for accessing birth registration and issuing Identity Cards in diplomatic missions and consular posts, fully functioning, so that citizens do not need to travel to the country to process birth registration, identity cards and criminal record certificates.
Registration can be done without the name of one of the parents
The national director of Identification, Registries and Notaries stated that the law safeguards birth registration without reference to the parents’ names.
“Many mothers are afraid to register without the child’s father present, because they fear that the child will be bullied in the future, preferring to postpone it in the hope that the father will one day make this decision, which does not always happen and they end up registering late,” he said.
Other people, he said, who are more legally aware, end up taking the right path, which is to, together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, activate the legal mechanisms so that the parent can assume his/her responsibility.
Birth registration
The national director of Identification, Registration and Notary stated that registration in maternity hospitals is showing a positive balance. He clarified that the MINJUSDH plans to implement, by 2027, registration points in hospitals, maternity hospitals and some health centers in the 164 municipalities.
“The idea is to register citizens at birth, to avoid bottlenecks at registry offices, as well as the lack of registration of many children, because parents do not go to the offices within the deadline.”
We had a break in these services in 2020, he explained, due to Covid-19, but in 2023 we will return in force and with the projection of installing ourselves in 164 municipalities.
The source explained that, initially, the process was only focused on birth registration, but what was noticed is that many parents registered and then did not process the card, creating constraints in the citizen’s life, as well as for the MINJUSDH.
In this sense, he continued, under the guidance of the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Marcy Lopes, the paradigm was changed and a new registration format began to expand, in which the citizen, upon being registered, is immediately given an Identity Card number and consequently begins to process the Identity Card instead of just taking the birth certificate, which was the practice for years.
“This process continues to be implemented on a national scale”, he stressed, highlighting the NJILA project, supported by the World Bank, which provides support to eight provinces for the installation of more services of this kind in maternity hospitals and health posts.
Aristides Marques said that there are regions of the country, which he did not specify, where some people with traditions or practices do not highlight the importance of birth registration as a right and duty that must be treated with due importance, as the recognition of this citizen in society.
“We respect these practices, but they must be measured so as not to harm rights or create delays in the development of society. However, campaigns have been carried out to raise awareness among citizens, regardless of their ethnic or regional origin, of the importance of birth registration,” he said, adding that there have been positive results.
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