Why should the Anglican Communion be involved?
Belonging and identity are important concepts for us. We belong to God and have our identity in Christ (Psalm 139.1-4; Ephesians 2.10, 19; etc, etc). We believe that we are known by God and that we matter to God. And we belong to one another (John 13.35; 1 Corinthians 12.12-27; etc, etc). A theology of belonging and identity relates to how we live as individuals in relationship, in community, and to our rights and responsibilities towards one another.
Unregistered children are almost always in poor, marginalised or displaced families or from countries where systems of registration are not in place or functional. Anglicans are committed to human flourishing and to transforming structures in society which thwart human potential and well-being. Our understanding of children in particular is shaped by the example and teaching of Jesus who stood alongside those who have no voice and explicitly supported the welfare of children.
Our churches are present in urban and rural settings - even in informal urban and remote rural settings - and have many opportunities to promote birth registration and enable families to engage with registration processes. We have specific ministries among families, not least baptismal ministry. Anglican dioceses and parishes may run, or have ministries within schools, hospitals and clinics. There are Anglican schools for nurses and training schemes for skilled birth attendants. And so on.
Those of us who are priests should ensure that before we baptise a child - that the child is registered if not we should facilitate their registration. Fortunately for us in Kenya, the process takes a day.
ReplyDeleteFr Enoch Opuka -
As a new and expatriate bishop in northern Madagascar I have been struck by the implications of weak birth registration procedures. Some people don't know their actual date of birth, only roughly the year in which they were born. The fact that this doesn't seem to be something of concern leads me to wonder about the place of personal anniversaries in Malagasy culture. It may well be that the family [and family here is an extended concept, my 'sister' is as likely to be my cousin, first second or third] and the community are stronger social structures than the individual. So personal anniversary celebrations can be displaced by communal ones. A second observation is that children don't automatically take their father's family name; wives don't take the family name of their husband - there is a strong sense of family but it is not expressed patrilineally. A third observation is that Malagasy Law provides the opportunity for people to change the date of their birth! All you have to do is to appear before a magistrate together with witnesses and the deed is done. People seem to use this provision to allow them to access educational opportunities or to enter public service where there is an upper limit, as for example in the military or police. It can't be reversed and there are obvious implications later in life when it comes to retirement and a pension but it is open to people to take a social and economic judgement about the potential for such a change of facts for their future well being. All this suggests a degree of fluidity in the organisation of society which people accept. It doesn't seem to impede right of access to passports for example, for there is legal provision to declare your date of birth if you need to. However let me add a clear caveat: these are preliminary observations. I am not the best person to give an authoritative account of the impact of weak birth registration procedures in Madagascar. +Oliver Antsiranana
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