The universal birth registration challenge in Cameroon
Minddevel, BUNEC and UNICEF call on the 374 mayors of Cameroon to become champions of citizenship
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1 in 3 children in Cameroon is deprived of a legal identity...
How many are there in your commune? How many children are deprived of access to school, protection and other rights because they have no legal identity?
Mayors of Cameroon, you have the power to change this and build a better Cameroon. By creating more birth registration points in local centres.
You can ensure every child in your community has a name.
Take up the challenge and become a champion of citizenship.
Highlights from the Mayor's Forum
View photos below
Nadine Perrault, UNICEF Representative
Siaka Coulibaly, the former UN Resident Coordinator a.i in Cameroon
DG BUNEC, M. Alexandre Marie Yomo
General Manager of the National Civil Status Registration office,
Mr Alexandre Marie Yomo
FORMULAIRE D'INSCRIPTION POUR LA CAMPAGNE D'ENREGISTREMENT DES NAISSANCES / REGISTRATIONS FORM FOR BIRTH REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN
FORMULAIRE MENSUEL DE COLLECTE DE DONNEES POUR LA CAMPAGNE D'ENREGISTREMENT DES NAISSANCES / BIRTH REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN MONTHLY DATA COLLECTION FORM
BEST PRACTICES
During the campaign, some mayors implemented birth registration campaigns and took actions that have impacted the lives of their communities' children. Here are some of the best practices recorded.
Building a registry office civil
The municipality of Garoua 1st in the Far North region has set up a building dedicated solely to the management of civil status, with an emphasis on birth registration. An initiative of Mayor ALIOUM GARGA.
Handing over birth certificates to orphans and vulnerable children
"My name is Nfor Buba, I cannot walk. I have three children. They were driving my children from school because they did not have birth certificates. My wife works on the farm and the corn is not enough to feed the home, talk less of selling to make birth certificates for my children."
Here is the testimony of Mr Nfor, living in the municipality of Ndu with his family. His three children are regularly sent away from schools because they do not have a birth certificate. Due to his disability, he is not able to go through the administrative procedure to provide a birth certificate to his children. The Mayor of Ndu council initiated to sensitize and prioritize the population living with disabilities on the establishment of birth certificates to enable a lot of children and orphans to get an identity. The sensitization was done on the field and on a daily radio program at the community radio station.
3. Climate change and birth registration
Birth registration is the fundamental right of every child, no matter their condition. In the Far North region of Cameroun, 224 319 people are affected by floods, and children are the most vulnerable. Mayors of the northern municipalities, cross the waters with canoes to make sure every child has an identity.
4-Birth certificate delivery to refugees’ children
The East Region of Cameroun has a great number of refugees coming from the Central Republic. Since 2014, these populations have been trying to settle, in the refugee camps and in the communities. In the Borgop village located in the Djohong municipality, the mayor has taken into consideration the refugee population and has delivered birth certificates to the children from the refugee community, born in the refugee ‘camps.
5. Delivery of birth certificates to pupils
The absence of birth certificates is a hindrance to the education of children. Without an identity, pupils cannot further their education; access to secondary school education is being denied to them. Therefore, it is very essential for the Mayors to catch up on birth certificate delivery by integrating school children without birth certificates. During the Myname campaign, Mayors deliver birth certificates to school children.
At the Touloum Bilingual Primary School, 100% of the students in the CM2 class received their birth certificates thanks to the intervention of the Touloum municipality as part of the Myname campaign. They will have no obstacles in continuing their education by taking the end-of-cycle exam, unlike the previous year when 60% of the students could not take the exam due to the lack of birth certificates. At the Guidiguis municipality, 18.671 school children (8.785 girls and 9.886 boys) from the 54 primary schools of the district have their birth certificates and they can pursue their education for the count of the 2024 -2025 academic year, thanks to the council's intervention.
6. Increase of the budget dedicated to Birth Registration
The municipalities of Kaélé, Guidiguis, and Touloum have revised their civil status budget for the year 2025, with a considerable increase as follows :
- Kaélé from 4 million to 8 million;
- Guidiguis from 5 million to 15 million;
Touloum from 3.5 million to 7 million;
This comes after the funds allocated in 2024 were entirely used for issuing birth certificates as part of the My Name campaign, yet were still insufficient to cover all the requests from children registered without birth certificates. It is important to note that a budgeted plan dedicated to birth certificates is one of the highest indicators regarding the My Name Campaign competition.
UNICEF champions engage
L' ambassadrice de l'UNICEF Djaili Amadou Amal soutient la campagne d'enregistrement des naissances "MyName"
Coton Sport de Garoua organise un tournoi pour sensibiliser à l'enregistrement des naissances
Fabrice Ondoa, goalkeeper for the Indomitable Lions
S.M. Nfonrifoum Mbombo Njoya Mouhamed Nabil, Sultan Roi des Bamoun
L'enregistrement des naissances une pratique séculaire dans le Royaume Bamoun
The partners of the challenge
How to accelerate universal birth registration
What it means to be deprived of a legal identity:
An individual does not legally exist without a birth certificate, and the guarantee of all fundamental rights is compromised.
Legal identity is a fundamental right of the SDGs and in the African Child Charter
Monitoring Mayors Campaign
From April 27 to November 20, 2024, MINDDEVEL, BUNEC and UNICEF are challenging Cameroon's mayors to create new registration points in health centres and town halls, and to register children without legal identity in elementary school.
ONE YEAR TO CHANGE WITH THE MAYORS
Week of 27 April
Launch of the campaign
April
Dissemination of detailed information on the situation in each municipality. Mobilisation of municipalities to work with judges and civil registrars to ensure the Birth Registration of as many children as possible who will sit the exams. Target: register 76,000 pupils.
May
School exams - the aim is to ensure that the 76,000 children who are currently unregistered can sit their exams with a birth certificate.
16 June
Day of the African Child
26 July - 11 August
Paris 2024 Olympics
10 August
African Day on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS)
28 August - 8 September
Paris Paralympic Games
September
Start of the school year
October
Counting of campaign results
27 April 2025
Announcement of results and Municipal awards.
What is birth registration and why is it important ?
In target 16.9, Goal 16 of the MDGs calls for all people to be guaranteed a legal identity by 2030, in particular through birth registration. The declaration and registration of births, and official entry in civil registers, constitute the first official recognition of a child's existence. A birth certificate is an official document that can facilitate a child's access to essential services. It enables the child to enroll in school, take an official competition or examination, benefit from the parents' social advantages such as health insurance, or claim inheritance rights. It is therefore a step designed to protect the child.
1 out 3 children is not registered in Cameroon
BIRTH REGISTRATION BY REGION
Percentage of the legal population of children under 5 years of age whose birth has been registered in the civil register.
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Eighty-seven (87) free birth certificates were distributed in November 2024 to some needy class seven pupils preparing to register for the FSLC and common entrance examinations this 2024-2025 academic year.
Distributions were done by the civil status secretary under the supervision of the Mayor Ndu council following the my name challenge competition and in synergy with the inspector of basic education Ndu subdivision. – north-west region
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Limbe 1 in Fako distributed free birth certificates to GSS Batoke in November 2024.- South West Region
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
The populations of the village Mayo-Gnindounga, Mayo-Darlé municipality, benefited from awareness, with the issuance of birth certificates to children under three months old as part of the activities of the my name challenge. - Adamawa region
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Distribution of birth certificates to pupils of government high school Nguti Town for September 2024- North West Region
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
After the mobilisations of the Ndu Council platform through the Inspector of Basic Education, the primary civil status secretary including the six secondary civil status secretaries has gone to work to further improve the number of birth certificates to be established within the context of my name campaign in Ndu subdivision.- twenty-five pupils from primary and nursery schools around the Wowo civil status centre benefited from free birth certificates- north west Region.
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Issuance of birth certificates at the advanced civil status post to women who gave birth at the Foulbere health centre, Bibemi - north region, Cameroon.
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Solemn issuance of 200 birth certificates. Before handing over the birth certificates, the mayor reminded parents to double their efforts to obtain birth certificates for their children at birth and also to increase vigilance against fake birth certificates for adolescents. - North Region, Cameroon
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
Nitoukou municipality - awareness during routine vaccination days for mothers on the necessity of declaring the birth of each child at the district medical centre by the civil status secretary. - east region
UNICEF/2022/Frank Dejongh
UNICEF/2024
The Buea Council distributed 100 birth certificates to children on the 13th of November 2024 graced with the presence of the evaluation team of the " My Name Campaign " from UNICEF Yaoundé. South West Region.