Mozambique records around two million births each year, but only approximately 200,000 children are registered, according to Digital Transformation and Innovation Agency (ATDI) chairperson Adilson Gomes. ATDI wants civil registration expanded, tying that effort to better state planning. The figures reveal a basic administrative gap: most children born in the country aren’t included in the registration count Gomes cited.
The state’s reach problem
Gomes presented the proposal at the opening of the first “Design Lab on Digital Service Delivery in Mozambique.” The plan would use the country’s approximately 1,900 health facilities and 11,500 primary schools to bring registration closer to communities. It calls for computers with internet access at health centres, staff training and one platform to capture registrations.
These changes are proposals. The report doesn’t say the services have already been installed or delivered. ATDI says it aims to lower access barriers by bringing registration closer to people. The figures show the scale of the challenge, while the proposed response still depends on institutions, equipment and trained staff being put in place.
The proposal would route registration through health facilities and schools, which Gomes identifies as institutions already present in communities. It doesn’t describe a community-run registration system or grassroots campaign. Instead, the agency proposes to change how the state provides a service, with access depending on whether computers, internet connections and training become available.
Rewriting the service, not just adding screens
Gomes said digital transformation should mean more than computerizing existing procedures. He called for reorganizing how the state delivers services, with citizens at the centre. That distinction matters: computers alone would digitize existing arrangements, while redesigned procedures could change how people move through them.
Gomes also called for stronger interoperability between systems, digital identity and digital payments. He wants citizens to start and complete procedures digitally, including in remote areas. The report doesn’t specify which other systems would connect, how digital identity would work or what payment procedures would involve. Those details aren’t covered in the account of the proposal.
For people facing barriers to registration, the stated promise is proximity and the ability to complete procedures digitally. The source gives no account of people’s experiences with the current process and no direct testimony from families or community groups. ATDI is leading the policy discussion through the Design Lab, while the people the service is meant to reach appear mainly as intended users.
Five stages, and the work still ahead
The Design Lab will proceed in five stages: selecting priority services, mapping existing procedures, identifying bottlenecks, designing new service pathways, and defining the responsibilities and actions needed to implement solutions. The sequence reviews institutional procedures before setting implementation responsibilities.
The article reports no election, legislative proposal, NGO partner, funding source or community-organized alternative. Nor does it say registration expansion has been completed. It records an agency’s call for wider registration and a proposed route through health centres and schools, alongside a process to redesign service delivery. The gap between a plan and a functioning service remains central for the children missing from the registration figures.