A child who is not registered at birth is in danger of being shut out of society – denied the right to an official identity, a recognized name and nationality.  Registration of births and deaths was introduced in Liberia in the 1930s, but became legal through the enactment of the “Birth and Death Registration Act of 1971”, which made registration of births and deaths compulsory for all citizens. The system for recording births and deaths was set up primarily at hospitals. Births outside the hospital were recorded based on assumptions and description of historic events at the time. The system of birth registration was centralized from 1991 up to 2011, before decentralizing to all counties of Liberia in 2012. The highly centralized system in the past made it difficult for poor and rural dwellers to access birth registration, thereby placing Liberia amongst the countries with the lowest birth registration coverage in the world.

 Ministry of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics is responsible to:

• effectively and efficiently register and certificate all births and deaths at the central registry.
• Ensure that birth and death registration applicant’s certificates are process, produced and received within the stipulated time frame
• Develop and ensure the use of standard and official birth and death registration forms and certificates
• Ensure that birth and death registration offices are equipped for permanent and safe preservation of all birth and death records received or made