Many individuals across Africa have difficulty in asserting their rights because they are unable to access identity documents that prove that they are citizens. Putting in place barriers to accessing documents that prove nationality is far more common than explicit denial of nationality, but it can be just as damaging. Those without access to identification as nationals may be denied freedom of movement, access to education and land and other rights.
The barriers to accessing proof of citizenship may take the form of administrative obstacles. For example, in Swaziland, non-ethnic Swazis often experience lengthy processing delays in accessing documentation. In Kenya, a constitutional review process in 2002 heard numerous complaints from members of marginalised ethnic groups such as the Somalis and Nubians of being forced to face burdensome screening procedures not applied to other Kenyans in order to get access to national ID cards or passports. One of the most common causes of lack of identification as a citizen on attaining adulthood, whether of the state of residence or of another state, is the failure of state authorities to ensure birth registration and the issue of birth certificates to every child born in the territory, including children of refugees.
The UN conventions on refugees and on stateless persons, as well as the Organisation of African Unity Convention governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, provide for states to issue identity and travel documents to refugees (Article 27 of both the Conventions relating to the status of Refugees and of Stateless Persons, Article 13 of the OAU Refugee Convention). The same requirement is placed on states in relation to internally displaced persons by the UN Guiding Principles on IDPs and the Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Principle 20 and Article 13 respectively). UNHCR issued guidance on such documents in 1984. However, in practice, these documents may not be freely given, may not be recognised by all national authorities, or may be made available only if refugees accept restrictions on their freedom of movement.
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. Target 16.9 of the SDGs is “By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration”. The World Bank has taken up this idea in its initiative “identification for development” (ID4D).
It is every child’s right to have their existence recorded and accounted for, to get an identity and to have that identity registered. Giving a child a name is essentially introducing them to the world and it is necessary to…
When the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF in collaboration with the Bauchi state government and the National Population Commission, NPC, flagged off the massive birth registration campaign of children under the age of five years in the state, residents of communities…
Le 9 mai 2017, la lutte contre l’apatridie faisait un pas de plus en Afrique de l’Ouest. Ce jour-là, à Banjul, la Communauté Economique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO) a adopté un Plan d’action pour régulariser le million…
La session s’est déroulée en deux parties. La première a concerné les présidents des tribunaux départementaux, d’arrondissements et les représentants des tribunaux de grande instance de Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso et Koudougou (de la naissance au décès, en passant par l’acte de…
The ongoing under five children registration exercise across the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State is recording a high turnout. Bauchi State state government, the European Union (EU) in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the National…
Nkwanta Cluster Manager of World Vision Ghana, Mrs Salomey Yeboah, has appealed to parents to register their children for birth certificates since it is their rights and its denial a criminal act. She said the issuance of birth certificates was…
Breytenbachs highly recommends that children born outside South Africa to South African parents, be registered as South African citizens at the nearest SA Embassy / SA High Commission to where the parents reside. The application is done using a foreign…
THE registration of births and deaths across the country can substitute for census with the construction of more registration centres, the chairman, National Population Commission (NPC), Eze Duruiheoma on Thursday disclosed. He said the about 4,000 birth registration centres in…
By Penelope Paliani Kamanga The move to give Malawians identity cards has entered its second month with only 200,000 people registered out of the ambitious move to register 9 million by the end of this year. Malawi, which is the…
Flagging off the ceremony yesterday, Governor Mohammed Abubakar directed all primary healthcare facilities and government hospitals in the state to establish desk officer dedicated to registration of birth. He explained that all relevant state government agencies and departments are to…