By Ikome Christie-NoellaEposi in Buea
Buea Council headed by the Mayor Bar. David Mafani Namange has galvanized stakeholders to advocate for the continuous civil status registration of children in the municipality.
The Advocacy meeting/sensitisation of the “My Name Campaign” took place at Buea Council chambers, October 24, 2024 involving council officials, Cameroon National Bureau of Civil Status (BUNEC) South West Regional head, health and educational authorities, traditional leaders etc.
The meeting organised by the Council is a follow-up of the resolutions signed by Mayors of Cameroon during a national forum of Mayors held in Yaoundé to ensure an increased civil status registration in quality and quantity.
The Mayor of the Buea Council called on all to be advocates of the “My Name Campaign”. He revealed that in the days ahead, the Council will sign a memorandum of understanding with Buea Regional Hospital as well as the Inspectorate of Basic Education to enable the civil status registration process become efficient and effective. “We are blessed to be one of the pioneer councils where digitalisation is going on and so we want to link with the Buea Regional hospital so as to make the issuance of birth certificates more effective. This will be extended with time to other health facilities”, Mayor Mafani said.
The Mayor stated that in the course of this year the Buea Council has established close to 10,000 birth certificates in Buea. “I thank our partners like GIZ for helping us to computerize our civil status department and other partners like UNICEF, the Norwegian Refugee Council amongst others”.
In his intervention, the South West Regional Chief of Cameroon National Bureau of Civil Status (BUNEC), Ndzerem Walters noted that there are 360 municipalities in Cameroon and 14 City Councils which gives 374 main civil status registries. “We want the registration of civil status to be improved in quality and quantity. In the SW, we have 127 functional civil status registries, 60 non-functional which are all secondary, so we are counting 33 main civil status registries. In Cameroon we are at 96% inscription rate for civil status registries and in the South West, we are at 100%”.
He added that sooner than later, the process of civil status registration will be legalized and the Regional hospital will be linked to Buea council.
“There is no bright future without a birth certificate. Without a birth certificate you cannot have access to financial services, no national identity card, no school and lots of other disadvantages. So we are encouraging through this campaign, that those involved in delivery especially health facilities should declare these children within the deadlines. Every child or even an adult without a birth certificate is stateless and there is no affiliation. The campaign is to encourage Mayors to increase civil status registration in their various municipalities”, the SW BUNEC head detailed.
He highlighted some initiatives taken by the Mayors to increase civil status registration such as the opening of civil status offices in health facilities, the counting of children without birth certificates who are in schools or of school-going age and establishing civil documentation for these children amongst others.
“When digitalisation comes, the health facilities are going to be linked to the councils. We are starting with Buea, Limbe 1 and Tiko municipalities. It has already started but specifically what needs to be done is the redeployment of material”, Ndzerem said.
At the close of the campaign, Mayor Mafani said, “It was realised that in Cameroon, approximately 6 million children are without birth certificates. So the Buea Council has carried out actions in that regard and today we decided to continue in the same light by creating a wider synergy for us to realise our goal. This is called the ‘My Name Campaign”, which explains “My Name, My Identity, and My Right’. Every child has a right to a name and to a birth certificate” he said, while urging other stakeholders to come on board and join the advocacy campaign in ensuring that no child is left behind without a birth certificate”.
The head of the civil status registry at the Buea council in her remark noted that in line with the “My Name Campaign”, Buea council has visited a handful of health facilities in Buea municipality like Buea Regional hospital, Bokwoango health center, the military hospital Buea among others. “In the past one year, (from January till now), Buea Council has established 2,367 birth certificates, 7,381 court declarations making a total of 9,748 established civil status documents”
The advocacy effort aligns with a nationwide commitment among Cameroonian Mayors to address the staggering number of over 6 million citizens without birth certificates, ensuring that all individuals can secure their fundamental rights and access essential services.
