On 7 November, the book ‘Being born is not enough’ was launched in Blantyre. It is the English edition of the book ‘Nascere non basta’ on the BRAVO! Programme's commitment to civil registration of children in Africa.
The presentation was an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of the Bravo! Programme since 2015 in strengthening the civil registration system in Malawi. It raised awareness among families, it trained staff, and promoted free registration for babies and children in health centres. More than 400,000 children in Malawi have emerged from anonymity in the centres supported by BRAVO!
Speakers included Dr. Focus Maganga from the Department of Language and Communication Studies at the University of Economic and Applied Sciences of Malawi, Dr. Noel Chikhungu, Director of the National Registration Bureau (NRB), who described the impact of the programme on the lives of millions of children in Malawi, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. They have been saved from invisibility.
Potipher Magombo, national coordinator of the Bravo! Programme, explained how the Programme was born out of listening to the cries of those children whose rights are too often violated.
Among the guests were also the Director of Health Services of Blantyre City Council, Semdan Seunda, the Director of Planning and the District Commissioner of Blantyre, the Chief Registration Officer, representatives from the Social Welfare Department, the Chief Registration Officers of Blantyre, Mangochi and Balaka - where the ‘BRAVO!’ programme is active - as well as volunteers, friends and young people from different districts of Blantyre.
