The Government of Bangladesh is committed to ensuring universal birth and death registration by 2030; however, limitations in the existing law and its weak implementation remain major obstacles to achieving this goal.
Experts and journalists have emphasised the need to amend and strictly enforce the law.
These observations were made at a two-day journalists’ workshop titled “Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward”, held on 5–6 November at the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Bhaban in Dhaka.
The workshop was organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). A total of 30 journalists from print, television, and online media participated.
During the workshop, it was mentioned that the current rate of birth registration in Bangladesh is 50 percent, while death registration stands at 47 percent—both substantially lower than the global averages of 77 and 74 percent, respectively.
Speakers noted that birth and death registration ensure fundamental rights such as education, healthcare, voting, inheritance, and access to social protection programmes for every citizen. Conversely, a lack of registration fuels the risks of child labour, child marriage, and statelessness. Registration is more than just data collection; it is the foundation for equitable national planning and good governance.
It was also noted that under the existing law, families are responsible for reporting births and deaths, while the health sector’s role remains optional. However, nearly 67 percent of children in Bangladesh are born in healthcare facilities. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have achieved near-universal registration by legally assigning hospitals the responsibility for registering births and deaths.
Therefore, Bangladesh must revise the Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004, to make all hospitals and healthcare facilities legally accountable for registration. Such an amendment would accelerate the achievement of universal registration targets under the CRVS Decade and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9—ensuring legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh Country Lead, GHAI, stated: “We are committed to ensuring universal birth and death registration by 2030. To achieve this, we must reform the law and ensure its effective implementation.”
Md Nazrul Islam, Country Coordinator, Vital Strategies, said: “Awareness among the general public about the importance of birth and death registration must be increased. We also need to strengthen the capacity of registrars, enhance technology, and improve intersectoral coordination.”
Md Moyeen Uddin, Country Coordinator, Vital Strategies; Kawsar Rahman, Chief Reporter, Janakantha; and ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA, also participated as discussants.
PROGGA’s Head of Programmes, Md Hasan Shahriar, and Coordinator, Mashiat Abedin, delivered presentations during the workshop.
AU/BP
