Birth certificates for the children of Sanki

In the City of Ubuntu we are confronted with many challenges. These often involve things that some of us actually seem to take for granted. For example, having a birth certificate. In the village of Sanki, where the City of Ubuntu is located, we were recently able to give over 100 children access to a birth certificate.

Facilitate access to education

In the City of Ubuntu, one thing above all is important to us: facilitating access to high-quality education and enabling people to lead self-determined lives. Our local team recently reached a major milestone: 126 children from Sanki, who previously had no official birth certificate, now have one.

Sanki is a village in the Bangangté district of the West Cameroon region. At the 2005 census, the village had 600 inhabitants. However, after the crisis in the English-speaking regions of the country, the population increased rapidly. The village is now home to nearly 100 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were displaced by the crisis. 

City of Ubuntu team shows full commitment

The issuance of the birth certificates was made possible by our Cameroon team led by Dr. Angèle NDZUENKEU and Stéphane KENFACK. They were accompanied by Abbé Eric KUATE TEDOM, parish priest of the parish of Saint Jean Baptiste de Tonga, Dr. Emmanuel SAKO HADDISON, director of the Bangangté District Hospital, and Pefole Winny, deputy prosecutor at the Bangangté courts. 

On site in Sanki, City of Ubuntu team member Basile FULMAI had already brought the children and their respective parents together. The team was to accompany the doctor in preparing age certificates for the children. 126 children who did not have birth certificates were pre-registered in the village. Of the children admitted, the youngest was four months old and the oldest was 15 years old. 

After this stage, a handover was carried out at the City Hall of Bangangté to issue a certificate of non-existence of a pedigree for each child. Then, the complete documentation will be submitted to the court to make a supplementary judgment and issue a birth certificate to each child. In this way, each of these children from the village of Sanki can enjoy their right to be recognized by the law as a person, a crucial element to enjoy lifelong protection. The birth certificate is a prerequisite for the exercise of all other rights.