01 March 2004

Phmon Penh, Cambodia: Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior with technical support from a team of UN Volunteers have launched the initial phase of the first nation-wide mobile civil registration campaign. The pilot project is taking place in the provinces of Svay Rieng and Kampong Speu, with the main registration scheduled to start in August 2004. The UN Volunteers (UNV) programme will mobilize 24 Registration Specialists in June to facilitate the process.

Plan International-Cambodia, a key partner of the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme in the region, has funded the assignment of a UN Volunteer to each Cambodian province. For Plan, an international charity working with children to alleviate poverty, registration and particularly birth registration is fundamental for the realization of children’s future, it’s their “ticket to citizenship”.

Ladislaus Byenkya-Abwooli, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Resident Representative a.i., in Cambodia said, “this is an extremely important process to support the overall efforts of the government in creating an environment for peace, justice and development.”

Robert Wildschut, UNV Programme Officer in Phnom Penh added, “the UN Volunteers programme, with its extensive experience with civil and voter registrations in other countries, is the UN organization, best positioned to facilitate the registration process. By supporting the Government of Cambodia in this campaign, we are hoping to promote volunteerism and strengthen the existing system. UNV is able to draw from a large pool of experienced international professionals. “

The method of mobile registration has been successfully applied in numerous countries such as South Africa, Kosovo and East Timor. The process insures people throughout the nation have an opportunity to register at a convenient time and place.

Official government statistics show that 95% of all Cambodians have not been recorded in the Civil Register, despite the stated goal of having everyone registered by August 2005. Years of armed conflict and its aftermath have disrupted the system, and the only practical method to achieve the target of registering the entire population by the announced deadline is to conduct a mobile civil registration campaign.

Shabir Ahmed, Coordinator of the the PLAN Assistance Project for Mobile National Civil Registration said, “civil registration is critical for establishing one’s identity as a citizen of their country. In Cambodia, mobile civil registration is to accomplish a number of objectives including registration of eligible citizens, capacity building of town councils in planning and implementation, as well as hands-on training", he added.