prescribed in the BDRA. In the event of the death of parents, the registering relatives must produce the death certificates and bring witnesses. In Hurungwe District this view was shared by 98 of adult respondents (50%). Children born out of wedlock were cited as the foremost reason that children failed to get birth registration. Lack of knowledge and information on the requirements and procedures, as prescribed in the BDRA, led to many people failing to get registered. 75% of children respondents in Hurungwe between 7-16 years said they did not know the requirements for birth registration. 4.13 Accessibility of information on Birth Registration Because of what some respondents termed a hostile attitude of officials at RG’s offices, respondents said that they felt intimidated to ask or seek clarification on even the simplest civil procedures or issues. Some respondents noted that the information they had on birth registration was from other people. The researchers noted that outside the RGs office in Bindura there was not even a single piece of poster or paper that informed people about procedures they needed to follow for them to be registered. One would have expected to find, publicly displayed, posters/papers/information that summarises the requirements for one to get a birth certificate. 85% of respondents in Bindura District seem to be uninformed about what is required for them to obtain birth certificates. A lot of people get to know of what is needed for birth registration only when they have gone to the RGs office for the registration. There were overwhelming opinions that information from RGs office was haphazardly disseminated. On this allegation, the RG’s office in Bindura contended that information on birth registration is regularly disseminated to the public and that people were, in most cases, aware of the processes and procedures. 4.14 Government and civil society relations Besides working with the RG’s offices, in both Bindura and Hurungwe Districts there are other NGOs and agencies that promote and support children’s interests, which JCT collaborates with. In Bindura, NGOs such as Farm Orphan Support Trust (FOST), National AIDS Council (NAC), Red Cross and SOS also work with children in various advocacy and programmatic areas. In Hurungwe, organisations such as NAC and World Vision Zimbabwe also work actively with children in various areas to support unregistered children in their bids to obtain birth certification. Often they send such cases to the Department of Social Welfare for further assistance. JCT also works closely with the Ministry of Justice (Courts) and the Ministry of Education in its programmes. 4.15 Birth Registration campaigns In both Bindura District 94% of respondents and 91% in Hurungwe Districts noted that the RGs office did not conduct awareness campaigns on birth registration. In Bindura 5% said that they did not know whether such campaigns Birth Registration Research Report/2007 41