Mozambique records around two million births each year, but registers only approximately 200,000 children, Adilson Gomes, chairperson of the Digital Transformation and Innovation Agency (ATDI), said. ATDI is calling for expanded civil registration, arguing that broader registration would support state planning and improve access to public services.
Officials presented the figures at the opening of the first “Design Lab on Digital Service Delivery in Mozambique.” Gomes proposed using the country’s approximately 1,900 health facilities and 11,500 primary schools to make registration more accessible. The proposal would bring registration services into existing facilities rather than rely solely on current procedures, though the article doesn't specify a timetable or cost for the proposed expansion.
The registration gap
Gomes’s figures describe a wide gap between annual births and registered children. Around two million births are recorded annually, while approximately 200,000 children are registered, he said. The article provides no further figures on the current registration system, doesn't explain the reasons for the gap, and doesn't state how many additional registrations the proposed changes are expected to produce.
ATDI’s proposal includes installing computers with internet access at health centres, training staff and creating a single platform to capture registrations. Those steps aim to bring services closer to communities and reduce barriers to access, according to the proposal Gomes described. The article doesn't identify the agencies that would fund or operate the equipment, nor does it give details about data storage or access rules.
Digital service delivery
Gomes said digital transformation should involve more than computerizing existing procedures. He called for reorganizing how the state delivers services, with citizens at the centre. The article presents this as part of ATDI’s case for changing service pathways, rather than simply transferring existing paperwork onto computers.
He also called for stronger interoperability between systems, digital identity and digital payments. With those elements, citizens could start and complete procedures digitally, including in remote areas, Gomes said. The article doesn't name other systems or institutions that would be linked, and it doesn't specify how digital identity or payments would be implemented.
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 article doesn't say which services officials will select first or identify who will carry out the resulting plans.
The source frames expanded civil registration as a matter of state planning and service access. It offers no details about changes to citizenship rules, migration policy, demographic composition, or transfers of authority to outside institutions. Its account centers on the registration gap, the proposed use of health facilities and schools, and the design process for digital services.