N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity Evidence gathered also showed practices by the DRG officials which militate against access to documentation. For example, practises such as using the type of immunisation mark as the only determinant of nationality without any other supporting evidence or investigation to establish nationality is too narrow a criterion and unacceptable. This was prevalent for people living in border towns with Mozambique. Such practices failed to take into account the dynamics of border communities e.g. Zimbabwean mothers giving birth and accessing health care services in neighbouring countries due to proximity of health facilities across the border compared to those in Zimbabwe. This resulted in people facing risks of statelessness and in turn affecting access to documentation and enjoyment of other rights. Lack of knowledge on registration requirements can be attributed to non-availability of information on the law and other information necessary for registration including information on which offices to register, location of such offices, fees that must be paid, type of documents and number of witnesses to bring. The National Inquiry process established that legal awareness and empowerment is a critical aspect that must be available to all citizens and residents, if national documentation is to be effective. Furthermore, it was noted that women who give birth in hospitals or clinics were sensitised of the importance of registration as opposed to women who give birth at home. In the past, there have been positive changes in the law, including the Constitution in terms of citizenship as illustrated by Section 43(2) (a), which provides for citizenship of a person by birth, if one or both of his or her parents was a citizen of a country which became a member of the SADC. This positive step was hardly known to the public and as such people who could have benefited from such a provision remained unregistered, without citizenship and at the risk of statelessness. Illiteracy and lack of access to information on registration, contributes significantly to non-documentation. This shows the need for an effective information dissemination strategy that ensures that information reaches out to all communities and the DRG does not wait for citizens to first make a trip to find out on registration requirements and then go back to apply for the document. It was also observed that there was a general perception among members of the public that it was difficult to register or access documentation. This was coupled with mis-information on the requirements for one to access documentation. For example, when people shared negative experiences on their visits to the DRG offices or the requirements for their own cases, which they had failed to meet, this deterred others who had not acquired documents from making any attempts to register. A number of undesirable practices were identified, which members of the public have resorted to in order to ease the process of accessing documentation. For example, some resorted to giving bribes in order to facilitate or expedite the process for acquiring documents. Some also resorted to falsifying information to counter their inability to meet the requirements for accessing documentation. 58 58