The Minister for Justice, Siromi Turaga, is confident that his upcoming visit to Bangkok, Thailand, next year will help in understanding and resolving issues related to birth and death registration in Fiji. The ministry has set a goal of achieving 100 percent birth registration by 2026.
“Fiji is ahead compared to other Pacific Island countries,” Mr. Turaga stated. Currently, Fiji boasts an 80 percent birth registration rate, leaving a segment of the population that the minister intends to engage with.
“This means that 20 percent of Fiji’s population remains unaccounted for,” he explained. “Recently, our teams visited several areas in Vanua Levu, where they noticed that non-registration of births among newborns and children is a prevalent issue. Although there has been a slight uptick in awareness, it has not reached the entire target population.”
Mr. Turaga emphasized the need for additional budgetary support in the upcoming financial year to further the birth registration initiative. Labasa Town Council’s special administrator, Samuela Ligairi, mentioned that advisory councillors and village leaders would assist the ministry in locating individuals in their communities who have not yet registered their births.