Father’s Day Function at the RGD’s Head Office
The Registrar General’s Department under the theme “Hand in Hand with My Dad,” hosted a Father’s Day celebration at its head office in Twickenham Park, St.Catherine, on Friday, June 18, 2010.
Dr. Patricia Holness, Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Keeper of the Records of the RGD in her opening remarks, expressed that since the start of the bedside registration initiative, there has been a significant increase in the number of fathers taking the responsibility of adding their names and particulars to their child’s birth record, at the time of registration. This increase is from 23 to 65 percent.
This call is still resonating to fathers to add their names and particulars to their children’s records at the time of birth. The Agency is interested in ensuring that every child is made aware of whom his/her father is and that fathers’ take the time to accept paternity at the time of birth. To this end the RGD is moving to achieve 100 percent compliance in this regard. Since the bedside registration initiative on January 1, 2007, approximately 121,400 first free birth certificates have been issued to newborns who have been registered with a name.
At the Father’s Day function, fathers were presented with gift certificates, gift baskets, and cellular phones from the various sponsors of the event. The fathers present were also treated to a musical prelude and other tributes. One of the fathers, Harvey Willis, said the show of appreciation was “unexpected” and the event is an encouragement for fathers to want to say they are fathers, more than ever.
Please see article by the Jamaica Information Service