Every child has the right to a legal identity

Bujumbura, 10 August 2026 – On the occasion of African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) Day, celebrated this year under the theme “The New CRVS Decade (2027–2036): Consolidating the Gains of APAI-CRVS and Securing the Future of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Africa through Integration, Decentralization and Digitalization,” UNICEF commends the progress made by Burundi in strengthening birth registration and reaffirms its commitment to supporting national efforts to ensure that every child has the right to a legal identity from birth.

Established by the African Union, African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day provides an important opportunity to highlight the importance of universal and timely registration of births, deaths and other vital events. Beyond being an administrative formality, birth registration is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It constitutes the first legal recognition of a child’s existence and paves the way for the exercise of many other rights, including access to health care, education, social protection and legal protection. In Burundi, a birth certificate is notably essential for children under five to benefit from free health care.

Across Africa, despite the progress made over the past decade, millions of children still lack a legal identity because they have not been registered at birth. The new CRVS Decade 2027–2036 therefore focuses on three strategic priorities: the integration and interoperability of systems, the decentralization of services, and their digitalization. These transformations are intended to bring services closer to communities, reduce barriers to registration, and ensure the availability of reliable data for better development planning.

In Burundi, progress is encouraging. According to the 2024 Burundi Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 73% of children under one year of age and 84% of children under five are registered at birth, compared with an African average of 55%. However, only 66% of registered children actually have a birth certificate, and significant barriers remain. These include the legally prescribed 15-day deadline for birth notification, direct and indirect costs borne by families, the distance to civil registration centres, limited awareness of registration procedures among families, and the still-limited capacity of some local administrations.

Since 2023, the Government of Burundi has undertaken several reforms aimed at modernizing the civil registration system, including the proposed revision of the Code of Persons and the Family, the gradual digitalization of services, and the introduction of interoperability between health services and civil registration services. The latter approach represents an important opportunity to bring services closer to families by integrating birth registration into maternal and child health services.

With UNICEF’s support, the interoperability approach was implemented starting in October 2023 in the former province of Kirundo. The pilot, documented in a case study, was based on the regular presence of civil registration officers in 25 health facilities across the seven communes of the former province, primarily selected because of their distance from civil registration offices.

The participating health facilities therefore serve a dual function: they provide health services while also enabling families to register births and obtain birth certificate extracts on site. The study showed that, in the communes covered by the pilot, the number of births registered within the legal timeframe increased more than fivefold. It also demonstrated that 100% of live births were effectively registered in the health facilities offering this service.

The rate of birth registration within the legal timeframe increased from 8% to 45%. The analysis conducted as part of the case study on the interoperability approach to birth registration in Burundi also shows that interoperability has reduced the number of trips families need to make, as well as the costs associated with administrative procedures. This has improved equitable access to civil registration services, particularly for the most vulnerable households.

Since its launch, the approach has been progressively scaled up with the support of UNICEF and its partners. It is now operational in 123 health facilities and has enabled more than 52,000 births to be registered within the legal timeframe, helping to bring public services closer to communities. Available analysis also shows that this approach is a cost-effective investment: the estimated economic and social benefits amount to BIF 27.83 for every BIF invested, while the most vulnerable families save an estimated BIF 9,907 per registered birth.

As a longstanding partner of the Government of Burundi, UNICEF supports its efforts by providing technical and strategic expertise in legal identity, birth registration and systems interoperability. Its support includes the development and scale-up of interoperability, the digitalization of civil registration services, support for legal and regulatory reforms, as well as coordination and advocacy for universal birth registration. UNICEF also contributes to efforts to document innovations and good practices to inform their scale-up. 

“Every child has the right to legal existence, to be recognized and protected from birth. The interoperability experience in Kirundo demonstrates that by bringing health and civil registration services closer together, we can remove barriers that still prevent too many children from enjoying their fundamental rights. On the occasion of African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, we call for continued efforts to modernize, decentralize and digitalize services so that every child, everywhere in Burundi, can benefit from a legal identity and fully access their rights through essential services,” said France Bégin, UNICEF Representative in Burundi.

On the occasion of African Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, UNICEF calls on the Government, partners, civil society, the media and communities to continue their efforts to make universal and timely birth registration a reality in Burundi.

Registering a birth means recognizing a child, protecting their rights and opening the way to the essential services they need to grow, develop and thrive.