title: How Would Children Register Their Own Births? Insights from a Survey of Students Regarding Birth Registration Knowledge and Policy Suggestions in Kenya.
abstract: Birth registration and obtaining physical birth certificates impose major challenges in developing countries, with impact on child and community health, education, planning, and all levels of development. However despite initiatives, universal registration is elusive, leading to calls for new approaches to understanding the decisions of parents. In this paper, we report results of a survey of students in grades six to eight (age ~12-16) in an under-registered area of Kenya regarding their own understanding of registration issues and their suggestions for improvement. These students were selected because they themselves were also nearing the age for high school enrollment/entrance examinations, which specifically requires possession of a birth certificate. This assessment was also a companion to our previous representative survey of adults in the same Kenyan region, allowing for parent-child comparison. Results supported previous research, showing that only 43% had birth certificates. At the same time, despite these low totals, students were themselves quite aware of registration factors and purposes. The students also made quite prescient sources for understanding their households' motivations, with many of their suggestions-for focus on communication of pragmatic benefits, or automatic measures shifting responsibility from parents-mirroring our own previous suggestions, and showing a level of pragmatism not witnessed when surveying their parents. This paper therefore adds evidence to the discussion of registration policy planning. More generally, it also builds on an important trend regarding the treatment of children as stakeholders and important sources of information, and raising an intriguing new avenue for future research.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelowski
authors.affiliation: Department of African American Studies, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Wamai
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wangombe
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Hellen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nyakundi
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Geofrey O
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Oduwo
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, Boston, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Benjamin K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ngugi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Javier G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ogembo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D001719:Birth Certificates / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data