Experts urge law reform for universal birth, death registration

City Desk:

It is crucial to strengthen and update existing law to ensure universal birth and death registration in Bangladesh. As an active participant in the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Decade initiative announced by UNESCAP, the Government of Bangladesh has pledged to achieve 100 per cent birth and death registration by 2030. Additionally, SDG target 16.9 prioritizes providing legal identity for everyone, including birth registration. Legally assigning the responsibility of registration to hospital authorities could help Bangladesh achieve these targets.

These issues were highlighted by discussants at the two-day journalists’ workshop titled “Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward”, held on 23-24 August 2025 at the BIP Conference Room in Dhaka. The workshop was organized by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), and attended by thirty journalists from print, television, and online media outlets, said a press release.

During the workshop, it was noted that the current birth registration rate in Bangladesh is 50 per cent, much lower than the global average of 77 per cent and the South Asia average of 76 per cent, according to UNICEF.