The National Identification Authority (NIA) has registered 32,000 children aged 6 to 14 in the Oti and Volta Regions as part of its ongoing Ghana Card exercise.

Speaking to the press in Ho, NIA Executive Secretary, Wisdom Kwaku Deku, urged parents to ensure eligible children obtain the Ghana Card.

He linked the initiative to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which aim for legal identity for all Ghanaians, including birth registration, hence the focus on children aged 6 and above.

"As part of the SDG goal in 2030 it says that legal identity for all including birth registration, it is based on that the government has asked us to start the registration of children from 6 and above.

"So if you see me here today, we started on the 5th May and it is important that the executive secretary of the authority I come round to see how the registration process is going," he stated.

Mr Deku highlighted Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 211, which mandates the Ghana Card for transactions requiring identification.

He explained that the card's PIN serves as the health insurance number, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) number, and Tax Identification Number (TIN).

Highlighting that a registered child automatically gains these identifiers, eliminating the need for separate health insurance registration.

He assured that the registration is nationwide and will extend beyond Oti and Volta Regions.

"A child who is being registered here automatically has a SNIT number, it has a TIN number and it has a National health insurance number, it means that, that child does not need to go and register for health insurance again.

"We are not going to end there, is a nationwide that we are starting and we decide to start from Volta and Oti so from here I will move to the Oti Region to also check to see how the registration is going on," he said.