The newly appointed Immigration Liaison Officer at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, Daisy Genin, has reaffirmed the Netherlands’ commitment to strengthening civil registration and vital statistics in Ghana.
Ms Genin made the commitment during a courtesy visit to the Births and Deaths Registry, where she engaged the Acting Registrar, Samuel Adom Botchway, on Ghana’s civil registration systems and opportunities for knowledge-sharing and institutional collaboration.
The discussions focused on Ghana’s experience in civil registration and vital statistics, as well as efforts to strengthen the integrity, reliability and accessibility of birth and death records.
Mr Botchway underscored the strong working relationship between the Registry and the Netherlands Embassy, highlighting the importance of continued cooperation in strengthening institutional capacity and improving service delivery.
The engagement builds on a series of previous collaborations between the Births and Deaths Registry and the Netherlands government, particularly in the fight against document and identity fraud.
In 2023, the Netherlands government supported the launch of a series of training programmes aimed at equipping Registry staff with the skills to validate identity documents, particularly birth and death certificates, and combat increasingly sophisticated forms of document fraud. As part of the initiative, the Netherlands also presented 50 document security magnifiers to support the work of the Registry.
The collaboration continued in April 2025, when the Births and Deaths Registry, with support from the Royal Netherlands Embassy and other partners, organised a capacity-building programme for district registrars in the Volta Region on document fraud and identity awareness.
The programme included a practical session facilitated by the Embassy’s former Immigration Liaison Officer, Isabelle Suply, who trained participants on document assessment techniques and identifying potential red flags in fraudulent identities and documents.
The Netherlands Embassy recently acknowledged Ms Suply’s contribution during her nearly six-year posting in Ghana, noting her work in conducting capacity-building sessions on document assessment and fraud detection for security agencies, visa and consular personnel, while recognising the cooperation of the Births and Deaths Registry.
The cooperation is particularly significant given the Registry’s role in Ghana’s identity management system. Beyond registering and certifying births and deaths, the institution is responsible for the verification and authentication of birth and death certificates, including for foreign missions operating in Ghana.
The integrity of Ghana’s civil registration system is also important for migration and consular processes. Dutch government guidance requires individuals seeking to use Ghanaian birth and death certificates in the Netherlands to obtain official records from the Births and Deaths Registry and complete the necessary legalisation procedures.
The latest engagement provided an opportunity for the Registry and the Netherlands Embassy to exchange experiences, explore areas of mutual interest and identify opportunities for further cooperation towards strengthening Ghana’s civil registration systems and improving service delivery.
As Ghana continues to pursue the modernisation and digitisation of its civil registration system, stronger institutional cooperation and capacity-building remain critical to protecting the integrity of vital records and ensuring that birth and death data can effectively support national planning, public administration and the management of legal identity.
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