20,000 children have no birth certificates-Study

The issue of children not having birth certificates was revealed via the results of a study just published by the Women's Peace Initiatives. This may be surprising and alarming, but the figures are evidence to this fact.

In 2015, many children remained, so to speak, unknown to civil status because they do not appear in any birth registry. In the littoral, where a study has been conducted by the Women's Peace Initiatives (WPI) association, which works for peace and the development of women, about 20,000 children find themselves in this situation.

It appears from this study that the Department of the Mungo breaks the record with 49% of children without birth certificates! The Wouri ranks second with 40% and the Sanaga-maritime comes with 11% of cases".

This situation can be explained, according to Francis Albert Kamguain, consultant responsible for the study by many bottlenecks in hospitals (maternity homes), lack of vital centres, poverty, ignorance and many other factors.

In addition, many do not deem it important to declare their children from birth. For the project manager, Michel Nkenfouet, a child who has no birth certificate is deprived of his civil rights and is exposed to trafficking of all kinds such as forced and early marriage, enlistment in destructive sects, etc.

The non-possession of the above-mentioned document also reduces the chances of obtaining a primary school diploma or academic or vocational training.

Moreover, this situation exposes the child to a life of vulnerability, social exclusion, marginalization and poverty.

The objective pursued by the WIP is to contribute to improving the rate of civil registration (birth, marriage, death) in regions in difficulty, and sent a petition to the competent authorities in charge to provide documentation for those without this file.

According to data from the survey, in the north, at least 35% of children have no birth certificate.