Hundreds receive birth certificates in Eastern Region
Children holding their new birth certificates
21 May 2010: Plan Cameroon has helped almost 300 children from the Baka and Bantou ethnic minorities receive their birth certificates, giving them an official identity and helping them access education.
Identifying and recording children
Children and their parents from 11 different communities came to Djouyaya, a community in the Eastern Region, to fulfil one of their most basic rights by obtaining their birth certificates. Through the ‘Baka Rights and Dignity’ project, initiated in 2003 to protect the rights and dignity of ethnic minorities such as the Mbororos and Bakas, children are identified and officially recorded.
One of the technical advisors, Hélène Aye Mondo, thought the operation was very encouraging, “especially when you consider how important to education a birth certificate is,” she said.
Certificates are needed to access education
A girl is presented with her certificate
“Registration and enrolment at school are done on the basis of this document. [So] we’re targeting mainly children of school-going age (3-15 years old), those who need to take exams and those that are thinking of sitting an entrance exam,” she added.
The project was implemented by Plan’s local partner, the Action Centre for the Sustainable Development of Indigenous Communities (CADDAP). The local land chief was also happy to watch over the distribution of the documents.
Helping children exercise their right to a birth certificate
Everyone has the right to a birth certificate. According to a survey carried out in the project area, not having had their birth recorded is one of the main problems children face. What’s more, over 60% of children sent to school don’t have a birth certificate, meaning that they are not eligible to take exams.
But in 2010, Plan Cameroon aims to help over 6,000 children and new-born babies get their birth certificate by continuing its Baka Rights and Dignity project, helping them benefit from a name, an identity and a nationality, all of which are vital to receive an education.
