unaware of the measures required in the course of birth registration. The other noted causes of non-registration were, however, more in terms of the absence of an adult with the drive to ensure such registration. Other fundamental reasons for child non-registration that were raised in semistructured discussions were wrecked families; children born out of wedlock; lack of knowledge of the laws and requirements for birth registration; single parents; illiteracy on the part of guardians or parents and a low level of knowledge and awareness on the merits of birth registration. Respondents revealed that the outcome of the non-registration of children has a major effect on stifling a child’s life opportunities. 4.2 Access to registration centres Crucial government offices (such as the RGs office) are situated in the provincial or district centres, which are, by and large, still very far away from the majority grassroots population. In both Bindura and Hurungwe it was noted that the registration centers were inadequate and that where some decentralized centres have been established, such as Katumba in Matepatepa area and Bindura Hospital suboffices in Bindura District or Kazangarare and Chidamoyo sub-offices in Hurungwe, these centres are still very far from many rural communities to make a phenomenal impact on reducing the number of unregistered people. In Dendera Village, Hurungwe an elderly respondent said: “Dai vakaisa havo hofisi pano paMagunje. Chidamoyo irikure, zvinongofanana nokuenda kuKaroi” (They should put the sub-office here at Mangunje. Chidamoyo suboffice is very far, it is just the same as going to Karoi). 4.3 Legal framework In Bindura 79% of respondents stated that the legal requirements and framework governing birth registration were generally unknown, misunderstood and inadequate. In Hurungwe 95% of respondents said that they were ignorant of the laws and that the legal framework that governed birth registration was inadequate and often stated in ambiguous ways by officials in the RGs office. There were allegations that certain information was only revealed or requested after a person has traveled all the way to the registration centre and turned away. However, during interviews, RG senior officials in Bindura stated that this was generally not the case. They noted, instead, that although some people were aware of the requirements, often they did not have all the documents needed and they end up making different unfounded allegations. As provided in Section 11 (2) of the BDRA that registration has to be done within 42 days, respondents stated that 42 days was a relatively short period of Birth Registration Research Report/2007 35