Staff Reporter : The Government of Bangladesh is committed to ensuring universal birth and death registration by 2030, however the limitations in the existing law and its weak implementation act as main obstacles to achieving this goal. Experts and journalists have stressed the need for amending and strictly implementing the law. These observations were made at a two-day journalists’ workshop titled “Birth and Death Registration in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward”, held on 05–06 November 2025 at Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Bhaban, Dhaka. The workshop was organized by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). A total of 30 journalists from print, television, and online media participated in the workshop.
It was mentioned during the workshop that the current rate of birth registration in Bangladesh is 50 percent, while death registration is 47 percent, both of which are substantially lower than the global averages of 77 and 74 percent, respectively. Birth and death registration ensure fundamental rights such as education, healthcare, voting, inheritance, and access to social protection programs for every citizen. On the other hand, a lack of registration fuels the risk of child labor, child marriage, and statelessness. Registration is beyond statistics; it is the foundation for equitable planning for national development and good governance.
It was also noted that under the existing law, a family is responsible for reporting births and deaths, while the health sector’s role remains optional. However, nearly 67 percent of children in Bangladesh are born in healthcare facilities. Many nations in the Asia-Pacific region have attained near-universal registration by legally allocating hospitals the responsibility for registration. Bangladesh must therefore revise the Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004 to make all hospitals and healthcare facilities legally responsible for registering births and deaths. This amendment would accelerate the achievement of the target of universal registration under CRVS Decade and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 target of providing legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, Bangladesh Country Lead, GHAI, stated, “We are committed to ensuring universal birth and death registration by 2030. To achieve this, we must reform the law and ensure its effective implementation.”
Md. Nazrul Islam, Country Coordinator, Vital Strategies, said, “Awareness about the importance of birth and death registration among the mass people must be increased. We also need to strengthen the capacity of registrars, improve technology, and strengthen intersectoral coordination.”
Md. Moyeen Uddin, Country Coordinator, Vital Strategies; Kawsar Rahman, Chief Reporter, Janakantha, and ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA, were also present as discussants. PROGGA’s Head of Programs, Md. Hasan Shahriar and Coordinator Mashiat Abedin delivered presentations in the workshop.