The Minister for Justice, Siromi Turaga, is confident that his upcoming trip to Bangkok, Thailand, will help improve the understanding and resolution of birth and death registration challenges in Fiji. The ministry has set a goal of achieving 100 percent birth registration by 2026.
Minister Turaga noted that Fiji is ahead of other Pacific Island nations in this regard, boasting an 80 percent birth registration rate. However, he emphasized the importance of addressing the remaining 20 percent of the population that is currently unregistered.
“Our teams observed in Vanua Levu that many newborns and children are not registered at birth. Although awareness has slightly increased, it still falls short of reaching the entire target population,” he explained.
Turaga highlighted the need for additional budgetary support in the next financial year to continue efforts to improve birth registration. Labasa Town Council’s special administrator, Samuela Ligairi, urged advisory councillors and village leaders to collaborate with the ministry in identifying individuals who have not yet registered their births within their communities.