Birth Registration - Situation Analysis - Burkina Faso

Birth Registration for All versus Oblivion (BRAVO) Programme

Birth Registration in Burkina Faso

Assessment Mission

By

Shabir Ahmed

Irina Dincu

Assessment of Birth Registration Situation in Burkina Faso

Community of Sant’Egidio Birth Registration for Versus Oblivion (BRAVO) Programme 1

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM 7

CIVIL REGISTRATION CENTERS AND BASIC

STATISTICS

10

LEGAL CONDITIONS FOR BIRTH REGISTRATION 14

STATUS OF BIRTH REGISTRATION AND ISSUES 16

IMPLICATIONS OF NON-REGISTRATION 26

CURRENT EFFORTS ON BIRTH REGISTRATION 28

RECOMMENDATIONS 30

CONCLUSION 32

SOME PHOTS 33



INTRODUCTION

The Community of Sant’ Egidio commissioned this study to assess the situation of birth

registration in Burkina Faso. Birth registration is an important right of a child and it is equally

important for adults. An unregistered child or adult does not legally exist. Birth registration is all

about governance and rights.

According to UNICEF estimates, the number of unregistered children in the world has grown

from 48 million per year (2003) to 51 million (2007). Birth registration establishes one’s rights

and obligations towards the State, family and in the socio-economic and political spheres.

Birth registration is an important tool of protection of rights. Article 7 of the Convention on the

Rights of the Child highlights the importance of birth registration and also makes a mention

about nationality. Birth registration is the proof of one’s place of birth and, where possible, of

who one’s parents are, and it is a vital instrument to acquire nationality, whether based on the

principle of jus soli (law of the land, territory) or jus sanguinis (law of the descent).

According to the UNHCR, lack of birth registration is amongst the top conditions that creates

statelessness for people. It has estimated that there are 12 million stateless people in the world.

The functioning of civil registration systems and the subsequent registration of births, deaths and

marriages is extremely important for the socio-economic planning. Together, the three elements

form a compact civil registration system which could protect people’s rights and enable them to

perform their obligations. According to World Health Organization (WHO) it is important for the

State to know what kills people. It is thus imperative that deaths are also registered in a timely

manner, so that health authorities could take measures to prevent the causes which are within

their control. Birth registration is the foundation of a legal identity.

While children are protected (at least in letter) against labor and recruitment in armed conflicts,

timely registration of births is the only credible way to establish their ages. As such, a birth

certificate is not just a piece of paper that could be obtained and thrown away or not to be

obtained at all—it is the beginning of a legal personality that ends only with the legal end (death

registration) of that personality.

Despite so many obvious reasons, the national governments and international community has not

been able to address the issue of non-registration in an effective manner.

The Community of Sant’Egidio, realizing the importance of this issue and also looking at it as a

mechanism of peace building, has started its programme, “Birth Registration for All versus

Oblivion—(BRAVO)” in order to improve registration of births within civil registration systems

of the countries and provide a certain level of legal protection to children which, in return, will

add to overall development. In this backdrop, the Community of Sant’Egidio has undertaken this



study to thoroughly look at the issues related to civil registration/birth registration in Burkina

Faso.

We (the CSE and its experts) are grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso for

arranging and coordinating the visit. We are also grateful to the Secretary General of the

Ministry of Territorial Administration & Decentralization and the Secretary General of the

Ministry of Justice for their valuable support and openness on the issue of birth registration.

Our thanks also go to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Action & Solidarity and

other officials of the Ministry who provided significant insight into the challenge of birth

registration in the country. We also express our gratitude to the Préféts and Mayors we came

across in Ouagadougou and other regions.

We are also grateful to Plan Burkina for their valuable contribution in terms of sharing

information with respect to birth registration, the lessons they have learned from their work, and

for arranging a field visit to their programme areas.



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Following is the summary of the status of birth registration in Burkina Faso including issues

surrounding the system and possible solutions:

A. It is estimated that there are around 7-8 million people in Burkina Faso who are not

having their births registered and do not have their copie integrale (CI)—the first copy

issued at the time of registration) issued by the civil registrar. The number of unregistered

children (0-18) is around 5 million (according to 2004 statistics).

B. Birth registration/civil registration in Burkina Faso is the mandate of the Ministry of

Territorial Administration and Decentralization, and as such the registration takes place at

the lowest administrative level, i.e. Commune. The mayor of the commune is responsible

for registration of births, marriages and deaths. If a birth is not registered within 60 days,

registration of such child is only possible through a Jugement Supplétif (JS) /Jugement

Déclaratif which is issued by the Préfet—who heads also the Tribunal départemental.

After a Jugement Supplétif is issued, the préfet transmits the jugement to the mayor, to be

entered in the register for the ongoing year. The Ministry of Justice has the control over

the quality of registration. Any intervention focused at birth/civil registration in Burkina

will require close coordination between the Ministries of Territorial Administration and

Justice.

C. The communes, responsible for birth registration, have limited human resources—a large

number of mayors have education up to primary level, with several being illiterate. Some

of them seek help from community volunteers for entering data in the civil registers. The

insufficient training and the lack of understanding of procedures result in mistakes into

the records. There is a need to run a training programme for the civil registrars and

volunteers in order to make them fully understand the importance of civil registration

law, procedures and the documents they issue.

D. There is a lack of necessary materials to issue both copie integrale (CI) and the extrait de

naissance (EN) and parents or reporters are asked to bring photocopies of the blank forms

in order to get a copy. There is a huge problem for storing/archiving civil registers. In

some areas, Plan Burkina has provided cupboards to protect the registers from rain and

insects, but those are not necessarily being used for this purpose. However, it is not a

general pattern. There is a need to have registers, blank forms, stationery, and cupboards

for each and every commune of the country and every tribunal where the second

specimen of the register is kept. Besides, cupboards are also needed for the sous-

préfectures where the jugements supplétifs are stored. Records in two prefectures were so

badly placed that the officials advised the CSE experts not to touch them for fear of

scorpions.



E. People in rural areas have very little information. There has been very little public

awareness around birth registration at the national level, and the one made by using

posters is insufficient, as there is no place to put them in rural areas, and with about

76,4% illiteracy in the country, the use of print media will need a serious rethinking.

Even in the urban areas the registration is low. A public awareness campaign aligned

with ground realities would play an important role in launching any project evolving

around birth /civil registration.

F. Population in rural areas is scattered and sometimes villages are as far as over 20

kilometers from the commune, sometimes more. With poverty and limited transportation

means, it would always be a challenge to register a newborn child within 60 days (legal

delay). There will be a need to have mobile registration teams not only during a national

project—if implemented—but on a permanent basis. In order to be effective in the future

for sustainability purpose the Government would need to make the secondary registration

centers more effective. There are around 931 secondary centers in Burkina Faso,

according to Ministry of Territorial Administration.

G. As a result of Plan and UNICEF regional conference on birth registration in Dakar in

2004, the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity has been leading a national

steering committee on universal birth registration where UNICEF and Plan are members

along with representatives from other ministries. During the last four years there has been

some progress made but no enough to sustain the civil registration system. If such

committee would have been led by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization, and would have sought support from other ministries including Social

Action, the results could have been a bit better. On the other hand, the Ministry of

Promotion of Human Rights is now preparing to launch 2009 as the year of birth

registration. The Ministry of Justice has shown considerable flexibility in amending the

legal provisions for birth registration and replacing them with the procedure proposed by

the CSE experts. It is imperative that a National Team headed by the Ministry of

Territorial Administration and Decentralization is put in place and is actively supported

by the Ministry of Justice. Other ministries—social action, etc—should extend their

assistance. The Secretaries General of the two Ministries (Territorial; and Justice) have

been open and flexible to work together.

H. It is imperative that the present procedure of registration is changed with a more simple

procedure in order to register the approximately 7-8 million unregistered, i.e. to give up

jugements supplétifs for a period of two years with a possibility to extend it to three

years. The Secretaries of the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Justice have in

principle agreed to the proposal based on the fact that it would be nearly impossible for

the Préfets to issue 7-8 million jugements supplétifs and enter records in the civil



registers. As such an administrative procedure will be effective to clear the backlog and

put the system on the path of strength and sustainability.

I. Birth registration in Burkina is not in a good shape and at present there is no clear

strategy—though understanding about its importance exists at the high levels. The

Ministry of Social Action has been leading the process until now under the concept of

family and rights, etc., and now Ministry of Promotion of Human Rights is moving in

with Plan, UNICEF and UNFPA supporting them. This will create more complications

for the civil registration system, as the Ministry which is actually responsible—Ministry

of Territorial Administration and Decentralization—is not the one leading the process.

J. It is felt by the CSE experts that the government officials in Burkina Faso are open and

flexible. They are also aware about the problems of civil registration. But a well

measured assistance is needed to develop a strategy that could clear the backlog of

unregistered population and start the process of strengthening the system.



ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM

Landlocked in the heart of West Africa and ranked as one of the world’s poorest countries

Burkina Faso is trying to build itself and move upwards in terms of development. Burkina has a

young population, with a demographic growth rate of 2.67%. However, only 23.6% of the

population is literate.

The following table gives a glimpse of Burkina Faso using various indicators:

Indicator

Population 13,730,258

Children population 7,000,000

Growth rate (jeune

afrique

2,67%

Urban population 2,766,383

Rural population 10,963,875

Life expectancy’ 48 years

HDI’ 0,37 - Rank 176/177

PIB per capita 460 $

Literacy rate 23,6%

Source: National Institute of Statistics and Demography, Provisional Results of the 2006 census and Jeune Afrique, Hors

Série no 18, 2008

In order to understand the whole dynamic of birth registration within the civil registration system

it is imperative to take a look at the administrative structure of country. The territory of Burkina

Faso is divided in 13 Zones, 45 provinces and 359 communes. The following table shows the

number of provinces and communes in each of the 12 regions:

Régions Provinces Départements/Communes

Boucle du

Mouhoun

Balé Bagassi, Bana, Boromo, Fara, Oury, Pa, Pompoï, Poura, Siby, Yaho

Banwa Balavé, Kouka, Sami, Sanaba, Solenzo, Tansila

Kossi Barani, Bomborokuy, Bourasso, Djibasso, Dokuy, Doumbala, Kombori, Madouba, Nouna, Sono

Mouhoun Bondokuy, Dédougou, Douroula, Kona, Ouarkoye, Safané, Tchériba

Nayala Gassam, Gossina, Kougny, Toma, Yaba, Yé

Sourou Di, Gomboro, Kassoum, Kiembara, Lanfiéra, Lankoué, Toéni,Tougan

Cascades

Comoé Banfora, Bérégadougou, Mangodara, Moussodougou, Niangoloko, Ouo, Sidéradougou, Soubakaniédougou, Tiéfora

Léraba Dakoro, Douna, Kankalaba, Loumana, Niankorodougou, Ouéléni, Sindou, Wolonkoto

Centre Kadiogo Komki-Ipala, Komsilga, Koubri, Ouagadougou, Pabré, Saaba, Tanghin-Dassouri

Centre- Est

Boulgou Bagré, Bané, Béguédo, Bissiga, Bittou, Boussouma, Garango, Komtoèga, Niaogho, Tenkodogo, Zabré, Zoaga, Zonsé



Koulpélogo Comin-Yanga, Dourtenga, Lalgaye, Ouargaye, Sangha, Soudougui, Yargatenga, Yondé

Kouritenga Amdentenga, Baskouré, Dialgaye, Gounghin, Kando, Koupéla, Pouytenga, Tensobentenga, Yargo

Centre- Nord

Bam Bourzanga, Guibaré, Kongoussi, Nasséré, Rollo, Rouko, Sabcé, Tikaré, Zimtenga

Namentenga Boala, Boulsa, Bouroum, Dargo, Nagbingou, Tougouri, Yalgo, Zéguédéguin

Sanmatenga Barsalogho, Boussouma, Dablo, Kaya, Korsimoro, Mané, Namissiguima, Pensa, Pibaoré, Pissila, Ziga

Centre- Ouest

Boulkiemdé Bingo, Imasgo, Kindi, Kokologo, Koudougou, Nanoro, Niandala, Pella, Poa, Ramongo, Sabou, Siglé, Soaw, Sourgou, Thyou

Sanguié Dassa, Didyr, Godyr, Kordié, Kyon, Pouni, Réo, Ténado, Zamo, Zawara

Sissili Biéha,Boura, Léo, Nebiélianayou, Niambouri, Silly, Tô

Ziro Bakata, Bougnounou, Cassou, Dalo, Gao, Sapouy

Centre-Sud

Bazèga Doulougou, Gaongo, Ipelcé, Kayao, Kombissiri, Saponé, Toécé

Nahouri Guiaro, Pô, Tiébélé, Zecco, Ziou

Zoundwéogo Béré, Bindé, Gogo, Gomboussougou, Guiba, Manga, Nobéré

Est

Gnagna Bilanga, Bogandé, Coalla, Liptougou, Mani, Piéla, Thion

Gourma Diabo, Diapangou, Fada N'gourma, Matiacoali, Tibga, Yamba

Komandjoari Batiébougou, Foutouri, Gahéri

Kompienga Kompienga, Madjoari, Pama

Tapoa Botou, Diapaga, Kantchari, Logobou, Namounou, Partiaga, Tambaga, Tansarga

Hauts- Bassins

Houet Bama, Bobo-Dioulasso, Dande, Faramana, Fo, Karankasso-Sambla, Karankasso-Vigué, Koundougou, Léna, Padéma, Péni, Satiri,

Toussiana

Kénédougou Banzon, Djigouéra, Kangala, Kayan, Koloko, Kourignon, Kourouma, Morolaba, N'dorola, Orodara, Samogohiri, Samorogouan, Sindo

Tuy Bekuy, Béréba, Boni, Founzan, Houndé, Koti, Koumbia

Nord

Loroum Banh, Ouidigui, Sollé, Titao

Passoré Arbolé, Bagaré, Bokin, Gomponsom, Kirsi, Lâ-Todin, Pilimpikou, Samba, Yako

Yatenga Barga, Kain, Kalsaga, Kossouka, Koumbri, Namissiguima, Ouahigouya, Oula, Rambo, Séguénéga, Tangaye, Thiou, Zogoré

Zondoma Bassi, Boussou, Gourcy, Léba, Tougo

Plateau

Central

Ganzourgou Boudry, Kogo, Méguet, Mogtédo, Salogo, Zam, Zorgho, Zoungou

Kourwéogo Boussé, Laye, Niou, Sourgoubila, Toèghin

Oubritenga Absouya, Dapélogo, Loumbila, Nagréongo, Ourgou-Manega, Ziniaré, Zitenga

Sahel

Oudalan Déou, Gorom-Gorom, Markoye, Oursi, Tin-akoff

Séno Bani, Dori, Falangountou, Gorgadji, Sampelga, Seytenga

Soum Arbinda, Baraboulé, Djibo, Djiguel, Kelbo, Koutougou, Nassoumbou, Pobé-Mengao, Tongomayel



Yagha Boundoré, Mansila, Sebba, Solhan, Tankougounadié, Titabé

Sud-

Ouest

Bougouriba Bondigui, Diébougou, Dolo, Nioronioro, Tiankoura

Ioba Dano, Dissin, Guégueré, Koper, Niégo, Oronkua, Ouessa, Zambo

Noumbièl Batié, Boussoukoula, Kpueré, Legmoin, Midébdo

Poni Bouroum-Bouroum, Boussera, Djigoué, Gaoua, Gbomblora, Kampti, Loropéni, Malba, Nako, Périgban

Source : Ministère de l’Administration Territoriale et de la Décentralisation

Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie



CIVIL REGISTRATION CENTERS

According to the Ministry of Territorial Administration there are 406 principal and 931

secondary civil registration centers in the country, where birth registration takes place.

In conformity with art 69 of the Code des Personnes et de la Famille, in the principal civil

registration centers four categories of registers are kept:

- Registers to record birth acts

- Registers to record marriage acts

- Registers to record death acts

- Registers to record other acts

It is stipulated in the same article that in the secondary centers only two kinds of registers are

kept: to record births and to record deaths. The secondary centers are to send the two specimens

of the registers at the principal center, during the month of the closing of the registers. The

principal center keeps one specimen of the registers in its archives, and sends the second one at

the Tribunal.

The following table shows region-wise number of principal and secondary civil registration

centers:

Région

Nombre

centres principaux

Nombre

centres secondaires

Région de la Boucle du Mouhoun 53 142

Région des Cascades 20 43

Région du Centre 11 38

Région du centre Est 36 35

Région du Centre Nord 31 132

Région du Centre Ouest 42 88

Région du Centre Sud 22 43

Région de l’Est 32 65

Région des Hauts-Bassins 39 84

Région du Nord 35 132

Région du Plateau Central 23 70

Région du Sahel 30 19

Région du Sud-Ouest 32 38

TOTAL 406 931 Source: Ministère de la Administration Territorial et Décentralisation, 2004

The legislator made an extremely good provision, which, if the centers would work in an

appropriate manner, would ensure partially at least, the sustainability and viability of the system.

However, the personnel operating in the centers need massive training on civil registration: how

to keep the registers, as well as on their role to inform the population about the obligation to

register a birth or a death, as well as about the importance of registration in its relation with other

state services and as a mechanism of protection.



Basic Statistics

According to the preliminary results of the 2006 census (published in 2007), Burkina Faso has a

population of 13,730,258, out of which 7,094,940 (51.67 %) are women. It is estimated, based on

the statistics of unregistered children, and the registered voters at the latest elections (2007 for

the National Assembly), that between 60-70% of the population is unregistered.

The country is confronted with various problems with regard to civil registration. Though it is

made mandatory by the law, only a third of the new births are registered every year, leaving at

least 400,000 people—the approximate population of Malta, representing 0.006% of the world

population, every year, out of the legal net. This 400,000 every year are added on the top of the

already seven millions inexistent in the eyes of the law.

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization

confirmed the number while discussing the issue with the Sant’Egidio experts. According to the

National Institute of Statistics and Demography of Burkina Faso in 2004 out of 7,401,364

million children (0-18 years), 2,467,121 were registered leaving exactly 4,934,243 million non-

declared. The Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity while referring to the National

Institute of Statistics and Demography reconfirmed this information in the meeting the CSE

experts.

According to age-wise segregation the Institute of National Statistics and Demography gives the

following overall picture of registered and unregistered children in Burkina Faso as of 2004. If

we take into consideration the number of births per year, we can rightly estimate that the number

of unregistered children in Burkina by now—August 2008—topped 5 million:

Ages Homme Femme Ensemble

0 260251 265305 525556

1 254463 257782 512245

2 248667 250254 498922

3 242888 242735 485623

4 237076 235199 472275

5 231329 227697 459026

6 225451 220127 445579

7 219836 212693 432529

8 213696 204988 418684

9 200962 190748 391709

10 187581 177241 364821

11 180996 170214 351210

12 170287 160976 331263

13 162091 151448 313538

14 159050 150482 309531



15 150060 144539 294599

16 139425 138258 277683

17 129209 132517 261726

18 120129 134714 254843

Total 3733447 3667917 7401364

Enregistres 1244482 1222639 2467121

Non

Enregistres 2488965 2445278 4934243

Despite the fact that the Ministries and Government departments put the number of unregistered

children at 67%, based on the 2004 household survey, UNICEF puts the number of registrations

of children under 5 years at 63 percent with reference to their Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

2006—the number which none of the government officials confirmed. If the UNICEF MICS

would have reliable data, this would mean that in the last three years, from 2004 to 2006,

Burkina Faso registered 3 million children, a number which is not reflected in the acts made by

the civil registrars, nor in the records of different ministries. As such the UNICEF figure needs

reverification.

The Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity provides the following numbers of acts

recorded from 2004 to 2007, in zones where special measures (audiences foraines) were

undertaken:

Structures 2004 2005 2006 2007 Total

Comité de Pilotage* 118.248 16.597 39.000 1.939 175.784

UNICEF - 62.296 135.586 - 197.882

Plan Burkina - 82.821 131.522 - 214.343

AXIOS - 840 - - 840

Total 118.248 162.554 306.108 1.939 588.849

Comité de Pilotage is headed by the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity

Source: Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity

This does not include the registration done by the communes not covered by any of the above (in

about half of the country, or maybe more). There is a strong possibility that those communes will

have much lower registration because of not having the kind of support that was available to the

areas where the above structures were working. This table also explains the possibility that in

2006 when MICS (UNICEF survey) was conducted the numbers were higher, especially because

this was the year where several actions to register children from 0-18 were undertaken, thing that

led to the registration of an extra 306,108 children. If we consider that a number of them might

have been under five, due to the incentive provided by Plan—a mosquito net—and that UNICEF

only takes into consideration the registration of 0 to 59 months, the number might be accurate

but only in specific regions of Burkina. However, it is not possible to get hold of a MISC, to see

how they really disaggregated the data, and to analyze in depth the section of population having

participated in the survey.



The Ministry of Social Action for their plan for 2009 (as of July 2008) states that they would like

to see registration of children (0-18 years) improved from present 33% to 75% by the end of

2009. In order to improve the registration of children from 0-18, a matter which is preoccupying

the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity, a plan was drafted to declare the year 2009

the year of birth registration, and to bring the percentage of registered children from 33 to 75, an

increase of 127%. However, it is estimated that the strategy which the committee wants to use—

audience foraines—will only allow issuance of no more than 500,000 jugements supplétifs, in the

best case scenario, and will not address the issue of the system.

Keeping the above description in view, the scenario that develops is simple: there are millions of

children—probably more than 5 million—who are not registered and at the same time a large

number of adults (between 2 to 3 million) are also without birth registration in Burkina Faso. We

are in a vicious circle here. In order to register their children, the parents need their documents,

and not having themselves the documents, makes it impossible for the children to get their birth

registered, so it is imperative that parents and children alike are registered.



LEGAL CONDITIONS FOR BIRTH REGISTRATION

The conditions to register a birth within and outside the legal delay are different.

In conformity with Article 6 of the Code des Personnes et de la Famille, the civil registration acts

are the proof of birth and death (Art. 6. Les actes d’état civil font la preuve de la naissance et de

la mort). All persons residing on the territory of Burkina Faso must register the birth, marriages

and death, irrespective of their nationality (Art. 56, Code des personnes et de la Famille).

All births must be declared at the civil registry of the place of birth, in 60 days, not counting the

day of birth. When the last day falls on a public holiday, the

last day is the first working day. Over this delay, the

registration of birth can only be done on the basis of a

jugement supplétif d’acte de naissance, or jugement

declaratif d’acte de naissance.

The civil registrar is the mayor of the commune (Loi 055-

2004/AN, Art 263). He is responsible for the principal civil

registration center, and can create secondary centers which

function under his authority and control. The mayor has two

deputies, both of which are civil registrars (Art 267, Loi 055-

2004). In the secondary centers only registers of birth and

deaths are kept. Marriages are celebrated only in the

principal center.

The civil registrar is under the control of the judicial

authorities—under the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of

Territorial Administration and Decentralization is

responsible for training, and the control of the civil

registration activities.

The civil registrar enters the data in 2 (two) registers, both with the same content, and issues a

copie integrale, containing the exact transcription of the act, including mentions, to the registrant

at the time of registration.

The civil registration acts contain:

a) The year, months, day, hour and place of birth

b) The gender

c) The surname of the child and his name(s)

d) The surname, name, age, profession, domicile of the parents

Ouagadougou, Arrondissement de

Nôngr-Maâsom – with a population

estimated between 180,000-200,000,

the deputy mayor and the head of civil

registry informed that from 1993 to

date, both specimens are at the civil

registry of the Arrondissement, since

there is no storage place at the Tribunal.

Also, the head of the civil registry

informed that during the year 2007

around 4400 births were registered, but

as the data was not desegregated, it is

impossible to say whether or not all are

newborns. However, in this last case, we

are far from the estimated 80%

registered in the urban areas, the figure

in this arrondissement, half rural half

urban is close to 50% only.



e) The surname, name, age, profession, domicile of the person declaring the birth

When the parents are not known, there will be no mention of them.

The declaration is made by the father, the mother, one of the ascendants, or any other person

having assisted at the delivery, or by the person in charge of the sous-secteur.

The Code makes no mention of any ID that the parents/person declaring the birth should bring

along, but in practice the mayors request it, thing which hinders the registration. The acts must

be done at once—immediately after the declaration.

If the person was not declared at the civil registry, or there were no registers, or it is impossible

to find his/her birth registration act, he can make a request of jugement suppletif, the request

must be accompanied by a certificate of non-inscription, issued by the mayor from the place of

birth

Mention is to be made about the fact that, though the law stipulates the obligation to make

mentions on the margin of the registers, none of the communes visited made them, and it is

estimated that, though there might be mentions on some of the acts in the archives of the

communes, in the specimen at the Tribunal, where the second specimen is at the tribunal, it is

doubtful that the mentions were made.



STATUS OF BIRTH REGISTRATION AND ISSUES

As explained above, birth registration in Burkina Faso is very low and according to the

information available between 60-70% percent of the population of 13 million is without

registration. With all the good intentions of the Government and the efforts undertaken by the

partners, the situation has not improved dramatically to the level where the system could at least

take a step on the road to sustainability—a system is sustainable when it covers at least 90% of

the population. It is encouraging to see that the Ministry of Social Action has taken the initiative

and along with partners—UNICEF, Plan, UNFPA and others—and has facilitated the

registration of a certain number of children. It is estimated that even if the lead would have been

taken by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, assisted by the Ministry

of Justice, with the current heavy system of registration—through the jugement supplétif—the

progress would have not been big. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization knows the issues, and so does the Ministry of Justice, they need assistance to

chalk out a simple, more effective solution of clearing the backlog, putting the system on solid

footing and having a sustainable civil registration system.

Nevertheless, the fact stands that at present the Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization does not play sufficiently active role. Birth registration is the mandate of the

civil registrar, which is administered by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, and the

Ministry of Justice has a role of control. In any efforts to bring about sustainability in the system

and clear the backlog of unregistered population, the Ministry of Territorial Administration must

take lead and bring around the table other actors including the Ministry of Justice, and the

Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity.

The civil registration system of Burkina Faso is confronted with a number of issues which the

CSE experts have identified during their visit to the country. Following are some of the key

issues:

Human Resource Capacity

In a country with the illiteracy is standing at a high 73%, with a population very young—

56% is under 18—it is no wonder that qualified human resources represents one of the

key issues for the system. A large number of mayors are having only Certificat d’Etudes

Primaires, and a considerable numbers are completely illiterate. They rely on a number of

mostly untrained, but willing volunteers, which unfolds / multiplies the problems, since it

increases the possibility of mistakes in the registers, as well as of a number of issued acts

with mistakes, or in non conformity with the law.

Under the recently introduced scheme of decentralization, ideally, every village has to

have two councilors—a female and a male each—representing their village at the

commune level. There are around 9,000 villages in Burkina Faso. These councilors can

effectively help in promoting birth/civil registration.



Another important aspect of the capacity building of the officials is to keep track of the

local level statistics. None of the mayors and sous- préféts the CSE experts have had

meetings with could provide precise information about

their respective population, the number of children

registered within the delay, the number of persons

registered through the jugement supplétif, or, for that

matter, the age group which most tended to get their

jugement supplétif.

Besides, they were not aware about the population

growth rate in their respective areas, and the materials

they needed. All their information was based on guess. It

is likely that none of the new commune mayors, which by law, along with their deputies

are civil registrars, know the number of unregistered children at least at regional level.

There is no system of inventory at the préfecture and the commune level. The communes

were not trained on how to estimate the number of newborn children, the number of

deaths, or rate of marriages, in order to have a certain amount of material at the beginning

of every year. Also, despite the fact the communes have their own budget, and that the

civil registration is bringing substantial revenue to the overall budget of the commune,

they did not allocate anything for civil registration. This leaves the Ministry of Territorial

Administration & Decentralization in a difficult situation to allocate any resources—

registers, forms, pens, etc.

In the commune of Kando, not a single death was registered in the last 7 months of the

year 2008. Similarly the number of marriages registered in the same commune was only

four.

One thing that makes registration more difficult, or discourages people to go and register

is the often hours of working in the mairies. People tend to go and declare the births

during market days, when they travel, but sometimes the commune offices are closed,

and often people do not come back.

Lack of Registers and Forms

The communes visited by the CSE experts did not report any shortage of materials, as

two of them were at close proximity with Ouagadougou and others were located within

Plan Burkina’s programme intervention areas. However, at the central level the Ministry

of Territorial Administration shared the issue of shortage of materials including registers,

blank forms to issue copie integrale and extrait de naissance.

Even if it is accepted that generally there would be a sufficient number of registers and

forms with the mayors, in the principal and in the secondary centers, a nationwide special

An obstacle to timely

registration of a child is the

absence of father or a senior

male family member. Women

do not wish to go to register

the child and in some cases

the officials refused to

register unless father of the

child is present.



operation will require a huge amount of extra registers and forms (every register has 200

pages which could contain only 100 acts, since once side of the page is left blank). It is

not sure, however, that all the registers have the same format. It is thus important that any

planning to clear the backlog of 7-8 million unregistered population must keep this aspect

in view and make sure that enough material is available. At the same time, it is

imperative to have sufficient quantity of pen, inkpads, etc.

Storage Capacity for the Civil Registers

The completed registers, which are at the communes and at the tribunals, are at a great

risk—they could be destroyed either by rain or eaten up by termite or other insects. The

commune and préféctures visited by the CSE experts presented a sad picture—even those

one where Plan Burkina has provided cupboards the registers are being neglected, other

things are stored in the cupboards, and the registers are left in improper conditions

completely exposed to rain water dripping from the ceiling. The condition was so bad

that the CSE experts were told by the officials not to touch them, as there are scorpions

all over the storage place and that it was dangerous. Those civil registration records will

soon disappear and with them valuable legal records of the population. Many of them are

already in a bad shape, with several pages missing, or simply destroyed—half page is

available. Another problem which might arise is the fact that the second part of the

register, until 2006 was a flying paper and it is not sure that the mayors put them together

before sending them to the tribunals, which poses the problem of reconstitution of lost

registers, at a later stage, by the Ministry of Justice.

All the communes have to be provided metallic cupboards for storing, and ideally the

tribunals as well. This is an important element which must be taken into account in a

nationwide campaign, if not the registers are at risk from day one.

Providing cupboards is not enough—the Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization and the Ministry of Justice must make sure that the civil registers are

kept and maintained with more responsibility, in chronological, and where necessary, in

alphabetical order.

Registration Cost

Though birth registration is free, along with the issuance of a Copie Intégrale, civil

registrars are asking parents to get one, often two, extraits de naissance at the same time

even though they would not need them immediately, and it is not mandatory. The extrait

de naissance is not free of charge. It costs 200 FCFA which in rural areas is considerable

amount. Generally, the civil registrars do not have the blank form to issue a copie

intégrale which results into asking parents to photocopy the paper so that they could be

given a copy, and similar is the situation of the extrait de naissance.



The cost of registration goes further higher if the

parents/reporters have missed the legal delay of 60

days—according to the legislation, a child must be

registered in 60 days. Such condition requires

jugement supplétif, which is issued by the Préfét

(also the president of the Tribunal Départemental)

and is not free of charge. It involves cost not just

in terms of fees, but it is never sure that the

judgment will be issued on the same day. The

problem is further compounded with the fact that

parents need to travel to the préfécture office

which cost money besides that the parents are

away from work—a problem which appears also

during the delay of 60 days.

Such conditions and costs have proven an obstacle for an effective birth registration

system and the number of unregistered population kept piling up. The result is not very

surprising, as the number of unregistered population has reached 7-8 million—merely 30

percent of the population of 13 million is recorded in the civil registers.

Delay in Issuing Copie Intégrale

According to the procedures the copie intégrale should be issued to the applicant at the

time of registration. This has to be handwritten. However, in practice it can take several

days before it is issued. The head of civil registration in an arrondissement in

Ouagadouguou reported that it can take between half an hour and ten days to issue the

copie intégrale, depending on how many demands are on that day. Some time parents or

reporters need to go back and forth many times to receive the document. This aspect

needs attention during the training process and also in the public awareness campaign. It

is imperative that the copie integrale is issued at the time of registration, and that the

parents are made aware about its importance, and provided information about how and

where to store it, along with other important documents.

Awareness Amongst the Population

With exception in the few urban areas the population by and large is unaware about the

importance of birth registration. As shared by a mayor, people register their children

when they need and do not understand their obligation for timely registration. The

problem is extremely complicated in the rural areas and more in the remote areas of Sahel

and a couple of other regions.

The public awareness through electronic media will have limited impact as a large

majority of the population does not have access to TV; there is a problem of electricity.

In an area of the country a child was

reported born 9 years after the

death of his father. Under the local

custom the brother of the deceased

man married the mother of the child

and declared the child as his

deceased brother’s child. The

custom allows that the second

husband of the woman is not the

real father of the child—he is just a

tool in the conception process and

the real father is the first husband—

who is already dead.



Radio is relatively more popular but effective only close to the towns. The officials which

the CSE experts came across shared that theater can be an effective means of public

awareness. However, the cost of having theaters across the country needs to be carefully

looked in to.

Another problem is that not all the Burkinbé speak or understand French. There are

certain tribes who are familiar only with their local languages. As such there cannot be

just one pattern of public awareness.

The problem of lack of awareness in some communities is even more serious. There is a

group of people who do not give name to child until 3 months whereas the registration is

mandatory within 60 days.

Lack of awareness is also resulting into faulty records. The confusion of name is very

common. Some time parents use different names which actually changes the whole legal

personality. It is also common that people change their names if they embrace one

religion or another but do not get the civil records amended. This creates issues for

children and also for the parents themselves.

Another problem is the fact that sometimes parents themselves, at the time of registration

of children do not have their birth certificates, which they establish later, often at the time

when the child needs to get his/her nationality certificate, and more often than not, the

spellings on their certificate is different from that of the child’s certificate, which later on,

at the time of establishing the nationality, poses problems for the child, and also at the

moment of inheritance.

It has been found out that the people in Burkina Faso—like any other country of the

world where birth registration is low—do not see an immediate benefit of registration.

This results into serious delays leading to lack of registration, weakening of the system

and creating problems for the child.

Loss of Documents by People

A commonly reported issue is the loss or disappearance or damaging of the copie

integrale—parent’s own and also of their children’s. Since the system is not

computerized it is difficult to locate a record and then issue an extrait de naissance

people generally take a jugement supplétif and re-record in the civil registers. This results

into double registration, which certainly is not the right thing for the system, and not only

gives different figures for registration numbers, but also creates judicial chaos.

It is imperative to address this situation by providing the registrants a protective plastic

cover. Plan Burkina has provided plastic envelops to registrants in their programme areas.



There is a need to provide this plastic envelop in order to ensure that the civil registration

documents are protected. This will also help in reducing the chances of dual registration.

Remoteness/Distances

Population in rural areas is very scattered and some of the villages are too remote and the

objective of registering a child is not sufficient for the parents to travel to the commune

office. In Kando commune the farthest village from the mayor’s office is 37 km.

The following table gives a picture of average distance from the civil registration center

in each of 12 regions:

REGIONS SUPERFICIE

( en km2)

NOMBRE DE

CENTRE

D’ETAT CIVIL

RAYON D’ACTION

THEORIQUE DES

CENTRE D’ETAT

CIVIL

Boucle du Mouhoun 34 497 207 13,5 km

Cascades 18 663 63 17,5 km

Centre 2 805 49 7,5 km

Centre Est 14 852 70 14,5 km

Centre Nord 19 508 134 12 km

Centre Ouest 21 853 135 13 km

Centre Sud 11 313 63 13,5 km

Est 46 256 95 22 km

Hauts Bassins 26 606 118 15 km

Nord 17 601 136 10,5 km

Plateau Centre 8 545 92 10 km

Sud Ouest 16 576 71 15,5 km Source: Ministère de la Administration Territorial et Décéntralisation

The above table shows that timely registration of civil registration facts and acts will

always be a challenge even after the backlog of unregistered population is cleared. The

situation puts the limelight on the secondary centers for civil registration and the

councilors (two from each village) and also role of volunteers, and the understanding and

capacity of the mayors.

What could be the logical response needs a thorough deliberation by the Ministry of

Territorial Administration and Decentralization, in order to reach out the population—a

prerequisite for the sustainability of the civil registration system in the future. In terms of

a project intervention focused at clearing the present backlog of unregistered population,

it is imperative that a strategy should be formulated that could bring the service closer to

the people in order to reduce the pressure from the system and gradually build a response

mechanism.

Capacity of the Préfét to Issue Millions of Jugements Supplétifs

With reference to the National Institute of Statistics and Demography the number of

unregistered children (0-18 years) is around 5 million. If we add the number of



unregistered adults the total unregistered population will be between 7 and 8 million. As

per the current legal requirement, in order to register a person over 60 days old there is a

need for a jugement supplétif which is issued by the Préfét.

However, the question arises would all the Préfét put together be able to issue nearly 7-8

million jugement supplétif so that the entire unregistered population is registered within

two years time? The answer is a firm no. As confirmed by the Secretary General of the

Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, and further by the Secretary

General of the Ministry of Justice it is beyond their capacity.

As such, this necessitates the need to have an exceptional procedure to register all these

people. The CSE experts proposed a system and shared with them how this will work.

Both SGs fully endorsed the idea and agreed to work together on the project if the CSE

decides to move forward for implementation.

Registration of Parents before Children

As per Burkina Faso interpretation of legislation, it is necessary that parents should be

registered prior to the registration of their child, though this is not specified, neither made

mandatory, in the law. Any efforts to focus on children without taking care of their un-

registered parents will not help the civil registration system. This aspect was also

highlighted by the Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity during discussions

with the CSE experts. The Ministry shared this on the basis of their work on birth

registration of children while heading the steering committee with assistance from Plan,

UNICEF and UNFPA.

It is thus imperative that the registration of parents alongside the children should be part

of any planning focusing birth registration in Burkina.

Estimated Birth Dates

An issue related to correctness of the birth date came up during discussion with the

officials. When the child is not registered on time and a certain amount of time has

passed in between it becomes difficult to write the correct date of birth. Parents also do

not remember the exact date of birth of the child. In this situation the parents are relating

the birth with an event or a day of important nature and thus the officials are able to

establish the date of birth of the child.

In case of children who have been baptized it does not pose a challenge as after the

baptism a certificate is issued by the church which carries the date of birth. However, in

majority of the cases the birth date is guessed by the parents.



Letters by the Health Centers and Confusion over Birth Registration

During the process of study it has been identified that a considerable number of parents

were under the impression that the letter issued from a health facility at the time of the

birth of the child is actually a birth certificate. They considered that the child is registered

and that the letter they are carrying is an extrait de naissance. They discover only at the

time of school enrolment that this letter was not an extrait de naissance.

The situation could go worse if the school allowed the child to sit in the class and told the

parents only after five years (the child will already be 11 years old by that time) that the

child could sit in the examination only if the parents

could produce the extrait de naissance.

It is a serious situation for the child, the parents and the

civil registration system. The issue needs attention while

formulating any public awareness campaign.

Registers for the Tribunal

According to the Burkina Faso legislation the records are

kept in two registers and at the end of the year one

register stays at the commune whereas the second register is sent to the Tribunal.

However, in one commune it was discovered that the registers were not sent to the

Tribunal since 1993—meaning for the last 14 years the second register is still kept at the

Commune. Any incident could destroy both the registers and with them the data for the

entire commune.

In another commune the second specimen of the registers were being sent to the Tribunal

on regular basis including for the year 2007. This shows that the situation can vary from

commune to commune making it essential for the Ministry of Territorial Administration

and Decentralization and for the Ministry of Justice to check the status of registers.

Another important dimension of the issue is that the commune that did not send the

registers to the Tribunal shared that the concerned Tribunal refused to accept the

registers. The reason they understand behind such an action of the Tribunal was the lack

of space to store the registers.

On the other hand, it has been reported that many mayors do not know that they have to

send second specimen of the register to the Tribunal. This possibility cannot be ruled out

and thus underlines the importance of effective training and follow up.

This also shows the need for an integrated approach from the Ministry of Territorial

Administration and Ministry of Justice to put things in order.

Some ethnicities declare the

child only with the name of the

mother. They do not want to

make a mention about father of

the child. It is a custom a child is

identified with his mother.



False Reporting

During the discussions with various officials in different ministries, it has been shared

with the CSE experts that the issue of false reporting at the commune level exists.

However, it was not possible to ascertain the scale of such practice. This will, however,

necessitate having an effective monitoring system.

Wrong Declarations

The problem of wrong declaration with regard to the facts and acts was highlighted by

the Ministry of Justice. Reportedly there have been incidents when people from

neighboring countries applied for civil registration documents declaring themselves as

Burkinabé. A wrong declaration would mean a person could get Burkina nationality

through an unlawful process.

This would make the role of Ministry of Justice more important in terms of training of the

civil registrars and ensuring quality of the registration data and monitoring of the process

on regular basis. As per the current process this is exactly the role of the Ministry of

Justice.

Mentions in the Registers

At all levels the issue of “mentions” in the civil registers was highlighted. As the civil

registration system has serious gaps because of the low capacity, no mentions are made,

as stipulated by the law. This would mean that the registers are not updated and the exact

status of a person—married or unmarried, dead or alive, etc—would not be known.

Under the law “mentions” must be made in the registers. Again the importance of

effective training gets underlined along with a system of communication between various

levels having role in civil registration.

Family Names

Amongst the Muslim population, and specifically in the region of Sahel, people do not

have the family names. It is possible that the column of family name may have different

information for real siblings. This is a common issue in the countries with Muslim

population, which creates challenges for the civil registration systems. It may not be

possible to change anything so quickly with regard to this issue.

Use of Volunteers for Recording in Civil Registers

The CSE experts found out that the role of volunteers in civil registration is quite

obvious. Two out of four communes have the volunteers helping in recording the facts

and acts in the registers. The urban commune in Ouagadougou actually pays some

allowance to the volunteers to get help for registration at the secondary centers. In Kondo

a volunteer has been helping for last 15 years. He has trained a younger volunteer now

who is actively supporting the mayor in registration. The use of volunteers in Burkina



seems to be a well accepted intervention and any project focusing on civil registration

must explore the possibility of engaging volunteers at the local level.

Leadership of the Ministry of Territorial Administration

The CSE experts found out that the Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization, who has the administrative control over the civil registration system, is

not leading the current efforts of the government to improve birth registration and

strengthen the system. The Ministry of Justice is also not very visible. The efforts of the

Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity to improve birth registration are

praiseworthy. They took the initiative with support from Plan, UNICEF and UNFPA and

provided leadership and managed to keep the issue alive and in the process registered

thousands of the children. It is certainly an excellent initiative.

However, to register all the children and adults within an active and efficient civil

registration system and then preventing the future non-registration on permanent basis or

reducing this number would require the Ministry of Territorial Administration to lead the

process and seek support from the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Social Action in

order to work as a well-integrated and coherent team.



IMPLICATIONS OF NON-REGISTRATION

An effective civil registration system in a country where all the facts and acts are registered in a

timely manner contributes towards effective management of legal, social, economic and political

affairs of the people. In other words, in the establishment of the rule of law it is imperative that

the civil registration is efficiently working, and that the people are able to perform their rights

and fulfill their obligations. An effective civil registration system can help the county develop in

many ways—reliable development planning, addressing causes of deaths, providing protection to

children and families, contributing in a smooth electoral process, so on and so forth.

In case of Burkina Faso, the system needs careful nurturing through well calculated strategies

and allocation of resources. At present it is not possible for the system to generate any kind of

vital statistics even if there would be 100 percent birth and death registration. Generating

statistics would require computerization of the records, and more complete data in the acts.

Precisely the lack of birth registration has the following implication for Burkina Faso:

Problems for Children in School Enrolment

Presenting an extrait d’acte de naissance is mandatory for a child at the time of school

enrolment. Though school can accept children without an extrait de naissance, and they

generally do, yet the children cannot sit in the examination. A large number of children

are dropping out of the schools around that time—not necessarily because of absence of

an acte de naissance and/or its proof, an extrait de naissance. A considerable number

gets affected by this requirement.

Inheritance Issues

Lack of birth registration may create problems for inheritance for children and adults

alike. The registration of marriages and deaths is equally important.

Women Empowerment

Having an effective birth registration system may contribute towards reducing gender-

based discrimination. If a girl-child is not registered she may not have the legal standing

within the family and may not have access to the same rights which the male children

enjoy. A girl-child not declared and registered may not be able to inherit from parents. It

has been reported by a mayor that majority of the unregistered population of Burkinabé

population in her commune is comprised of women. However, none of the mayors has

disaggregated data per age group, or gender, with regard to civil registration.

Identity

Birth registration is proof of one’s birth on the territory of Burkina Faso and not having it

may create obstacles for a person when applying for the National ID Card, or for the

certificat de nationalité, or for the acquisition of nationality.



Participation in Electoral Process

Non registration of births may result into missing out on the voters list and thus losing the

right to be part of the electoral process. As such, in Burkina only 3.9 million voters are

registers (data from 2005), but there should be around 6.4 million people over 18 years

old.

Rule of Law/Good governance

Birth registration within the civil registration system can help in strengthening the rule of

law and contributing towards good governance. Timely registration can allow the people

of Burkina Faso to be effectively playing their role in good governance. It is both in the

favor of the State and an individual.

Citizenship Roles

The Burkinabé, through timely registration, can effectively play their citizenship roles by

performing their obligations and getting protected legally. Citizenship role can include

active participation in social, economic and political activities and contributing towards

overall development.

Reliable Statistics

With timely registration of births, marriages and deaths the State of Burkina Faso can

generate reliable vital statistics for planning purpose. It would, however, require

computerization of the system.



CURRENT EFFORTS ON BIRTH REGISTRATION

Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity

For the last four years the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity has been leading the

national steering committee on birth registration and working along the partners—Plan Burkina,

UNICEF, UNFPA, etc.

This was the result of the Ministry’s participation in Plan and UNICEF-sponsored regional

conference on birth registration that took place in February 2004 in Dakar. As a follow up the

Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity put the agenda of birth registration under the

mandate of family protection and developed campaigns with the support of Plan and UNICEF.

The efforts of the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity are worth appreciation. The

Ministry proposed changes in the civil registers, undertook public awareness, provided finances

for jugement supplétif, paid for papers, stamps, books and forms, etc. Plan, UNICEF and UNFPA

provided financial assistance for these activities.

The officials of the Ministry were very much familiar with the issues related to birth registration.

They shared how it was important to register parents as only by focusing children will not help

resolve the issue on permanent basis.

Plan Burkina

Plan International launched its global advocacy campaign on birth registration in 2005. Plan

along with UNICEF organized a regional conference on birth registration in Dakar in February

2004 and brought together government officials from Western African nations to reflect upon the

issue of birth registration and how the lack of it was affecting children.

In Burkina Faso, Plan has been effectively working in its programme areas and provided

registers, forms, stationery and cupboards to the mayors and the préféts. The registration in the

last four years has increased from 33 to 48 percent. Plan works in 8 provinces where other

children-related projects are also implemented.

Some of the initiatives which Plan undertook are interesting and worth replicating. This includes

plastic envelops to the registrants, mosquito nets for every child registered within the legal delay

of 60 days and cupboards to the mayors. It may be noted that Plan in Cambodia took a similar

initiative in 2004-5 and distributed 1.2 million plastic envelops for protection of documents to

the same number of households. In 2007 Plan Burkina distributed 27,000 mosquito nets as an

incentive for timely registration and also enhanced protection against malaria. It is important to

highlight that at national level Plan works with the national steering committee and in its

programme areas it works with mayors, préféts and community volunteers.



UNICEF & UNFPA

According to the Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity as a part of the initiative on

birth registration UNICEF in its priority provinces (10) have assisted in the registration of 97,882

children in 2005 and 2006. No registration is reported for 2004 and 2007. UNICEF assisted

through audiences foraines and materials including registers, forms, stationery etc.

As shared by the Ministry of Social Action & Solidarity the UNFPA is providing some financial

assistance to the national steering committee on birth registration.



RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study the following recommendation are made for improving the

status of birth registration in Burkina Faso and strengthening the civil registration system:

Through a survey in 2004, the National Institute of Statistics and Demography gathered

age-wise data (0-18 years) for all the provinces. The survey found out that around 5

million children are not declared and do not have their extrait de naissance. Since no

major change has taken place in the last 4 four years it is estimated that this number is

more or less the same rather more on the higher side. The exact number of adults who are

not registered is not available. Put together, the 5 million children and the percentage of

registration in the country it can be safely said that there are between 7 to 8 million

people in Burkina Faso who do not exist in the civil registers. It is impossible to register

such a large chunk of population through a normal procedure. There has to be a special

and simple procedure to clear this huge backlog otherwise the system will never be able

to handle the pressure which is growing bigger and bigger with each passing year.

As per the existing procedure if a child is not registered within 60 days it can only be

registered through jugement supplétif which requires extra efforts and cost. The capacity

of the Préféts to issue the jugement supplétif does not match with the gigantic number of

7 to 8 million unregistered population. The situation requires a special procedure

enabling to take the pressure off from the system and start the process of sustainability.

Ministry of Territorial Administration & Decentralization and the Ministry of Justice (at

the level of Secretary General) have shown complete agreement with the CSE experts for

removing the jugement supplétif for a few years and replacing it with a different

procedure. In fact it is the only way to clear the backlog of millions of unregistered

population.

Birth registration is a cross-cutting issue in Burkina Faso and falls in the domain of

various ministries. However, from administrative point of view the mayors are

responsible for their work to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and

Decentralization including civil registration. The Ministry of Justice has the control over

the quality of data and legal knowledge of the officials. From all logic and reasoning it is

the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization which should have been

leading any project intervention focusing on birth registration. The efforts of the Ministry

of Social Action and National Solidarity should be appreciated and they should be part of

any efforts focusing on birth registration. The presence of the Ministry of Justice is a

must. All the three ministries must work together in complete harmony and integration to

address the institutional issues around civil registration. The Ministry of Justice should

continue fulfilling its responsibility of training the civil registrars and maintaining quality

control. It is thus imperative that the Ministry of Interior puts together a project

coordination cell where Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Action and



National Solidarity are represented. Besides, international organizations which have

already been working on this issue for some years now especially Plan Burkina and

UNICEF should be part of the project.

A civil registration system cannot work without credible and unhindered supply of

resources. Burkina Faso’s civil registration system in grossly under-resourced in terms of

registers, forms, pens, cupboards, typewriters, etc. Plan and UNICEF have been helping

the Government in printing materials and providing necessary assistance in a few areas.

However, to clearing the backlog of unregistered population and starting the process of

strengthening the system there is a need to arrange extra assistance so that these 7-8

million people are registered. Once this milestone is achieved the requirement of

materials on regular basis will go down and that will not pose a major challenge. It is thus

recommended that a calculation is made to assess the materials required to register the

presently unregistered population so that the backlog is cleared and concrete steps are

taken towards sustainability of the system.

No system can be sustainable unless its beneficiaries understand the importance of the

service over which they have the right and know their obligations at the same time.

Awareness is the key. There have been initiatives taken around increasing awareness

about birth registration in the last few years, but the challenge is too huge to be overcome

in a short period of time. It is therefore imperative that a massive public awareness

campaign is launched with focus on present and future requirements related to civil

registration/birth registration in Burkina Faso. Having a campaign is not enough; there

has to be a right kind of public awareness campaign. It must be a mix of electronic, print

and outdoor media. The use of local potential and mobile cinema would be effective.

Only just one form of media will not be helpful—coverage of TV is very low; radio has

better coverage but does not fully cover the country; print could not give benefit because

of the low literacy rate; etc: reason of a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional campaign. It

is extremely important that public awareness campaign is not considered as less

important than actual registration—it is a means to support the ongoing efforts and a

guarantee for the sustainable registration in the future.



CONCLUSION

The knowledge about the importance of birth registration and efficient working of civil

registration system in Burkina Faso at the level of the Ministry of Territorial Administration, the

Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Social Action & National Solidarity is praiseworthy. The

efforts of the last 4 years show the seriousness that the Government of Burkina Faso has attached

to this important issue having short and long term implications on the functions of the State and

the people—especially the children. The Government needs to transform its good intentions into

action in such a way that the maximum number of people is brought within the civil registration

system. In order to achieve this goal there is a need to adopt an out of the box approach—after all

extraordinary situations require extraordinary solutions. The Government would need technical

and financial assistance to clear the backlog of unregistered population and create conditions for

a sustainable civil registration system. The organizations working on the issue of birth

registration would require to move forward and extend a helping hand to the Government.



SOME PHOTOS SHOWING STATUS OF CIVIL REGISTERS

Showing different patterns of civil registers storage and protection



Water dripping from the ceiling of the office and below are civil registers get destroyed



A family at the mayor’s office registering their sixth child