Tigo Tanzania continues to pioneer under – five Mobile Birth Registration MyZA

Tigo Tanzania continues to pioneer under – five Mobile Birth Registration:

Tanzania digital lifestyle company, Tigo (www.Tigo.co.tz), is supporting the government under-five birth registration initiative through innovative mobile application that is massively accelerating provisioning of birth certificate for children under the age of five. The under-five birth registration initiative in Iringa and Njombe regions is expected to benefit more than 200,000 under five children in the two regions.

The programme brings registration closer to the community by establishing registration points at existing health facilities and at the community ward executive offices. This will enable parents in these two regions to have access to more than 700 registration points. Moreover, there will be more than 1,500 Registration Assistants equipped with 800 mobile phones donated by Tigo to support the registration process.

Tigo has been partnering with Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) and UNICEF (www.UNICEF.org) in scaling up this project in Njombe and Iringa regions following success registered in Mbeya and Mwanza regions where more than 400,000 under –five children have been registered and provided with birth certificate from 2013 to date.

Speaking after the launch of the Project in Iringa and Njombe regions in Southern Highlands of Tanzania, Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez said: “Tigo is proud to be the sole telecommunication company partnering with RITA, UNICEF and other stakeholders in order to make sure that every child birth in Tanzania does not go unaccounted for because identity is a basic right for every child.”

Mr. Gutierrez added that “through innovative mobile technology application, which ensures that birth registration data is uploaded and sent to a central database at RITA in real-time, we have been able to demonstrate our strong commitment to building a societal ecosystem that brings the promise of technology to life in the communities where we operate”.

The under-five birth registration initiative marks a significant shift in accelerating birth registration in Tanzania, after years of stagnation.

“We are transforming the system to make it easier for children and their families to access the entitlement of a birth certificate,” said Emmy Hudson Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), responsible for the programme.

UNICEF Representative in Tanzania Maniza Zaman noted that ‘Improving birth registration for under five children will help Tanzania make rapid progress in ensuring its children are on the path to attain their rights. It will also help the Government to put in place the basic legislative framework necessary to position its 23 million children under the age of 18 at the top of its development agenda’.

So far the initiative has covered 2 Regions – Mbeya and Mwanza, and will cover an additional 10 Regions including Iringa and Njombe aiming to facilitate the establishment of a sustainable model of birth registration targeting 3.5 million girls and boys under the age of five. According to the Tanzania Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2010, only 16% of children under the age of five have been registered by civil authorities, with the worst challenge being in the rural areas.

Distributed by APO on behalf of Tigo.

About UNICEF:
UNICEF (www.UNICEF.org) works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: http://www.UNICEF.org

About Tigo:
Tigo Tanzania (www.Tigo.co.tz) is the leading innovative telecommunication company in the country, distinguished as a fully-fledged digital lifestyle brand. Offering a diverse product portfolio in voice, SMS, high-speed internet and mobile financial services, Tigo has pioneered innovations such as the first Smartphone in Kiswahili, Free Facebook in Kiswahili, Tigo Pesa App, Tigo Music and Tigo Game and East Africa’s first cross-border mobile money transfer with currency conversion.
Tigo has captured most of the market growth in 2014 and 2015* becoming the number 2 operator in Tanzania. Tigo has also launched 4G LTE network in Dar es Salaam and 11 cities and will be available in all the major cities of Tanzania by end of 2016. In the past three years the company has launched over 500 network sites bring to over 2000 the total of its network sites. It plans increase its investment by 2017 in terms of coverage and additional capacity networks for deeper penetration in rural areas. With over 11 million registered subscribers, Tigo directly and indirectly employs over 300,000 Tanzanians including an extended network of customer service representatives, mobile money merchants, sales agents and distributors.
Tigo started its operations in Tanzania in 1994. Tigo is the commercial brand of Millicom, an international company developing the digital lifestyle in 11 countries with commercial operations in Africa and Latin America and corporate offices in Europe and the USA.
For further information visit: www.Tigo.co.tz

Media Contact:
William Mpinga
Brand Manager
Mobile: 0658123644
William.mpinga@tigo.co.tz

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