It's official, my name is...

You don’t get a 'wow' story like this very often!

1 million children in Central African Republic (CAR) do not have a birth certificate. This has a detrimental impact on a child's future.

When our team identified this critical gap they wasted no time planning, putting your gift into action.

This year, 36,000 children will receive birth certificates!

Your gift is literally helping to positively change the future of CAR, ensuring children are counted!

Press play for the beginning of this truly remarkable story :)

Viviane

"My parents did not have the opportunity to provide me with a birth certificate. But today, thanks to World Vision, I now have a birth certificate.

I will be able to submit my examination papers this year due to obtaining my birth certificate. It is really important to have a birth certificate as it allows me to take exams and competitions, to be recognised, and to have Central African nationality too.

I want to thanks World Vision, I now have a birth certificate. It is a fact where I was born, and my parents are known."

Richard

"I'm happy to receive the birth certificate because it helps me to be recognised. To be someone.

The importance of birth certificates is that they allow you to take an exam, or a B.E.C. or gain a high school diploma and a national identified passport and that serves (affirms) who I am."

Fabienne Zoumbassa WV CAR Child Protection Officer

"From a protection standpoint, having a birth certificate is among the fundamental rights of a child. We are delighted with this project because we have given life back to a child, we have given life back to an entire community.

In this project, we have two activities for birth certificates.

One involves the registration through the administrative procedures that we are carrying out with the court, the municipality, and other stakeholders. And two, is raising community awareness, with activities so that all children born during this project are declared and have birth certificates.

According to the evaluation carried out in these two regions, we understand that 80% of the children in school do not have birth certificates. This prompted those who designed this NAF project (Nexus Accelerator Fund) to emphasise the need of issuing birth certificates.

Nowadays, we can say that there is a clear improvement.

By having his birth certificate, a child can go to school, can become someone in society tomorrow."

How did 1 million children lose their birth certificate?

To understand this we need to step back a little.

CAR has a history of violent uprisings and broken peace deals. However, since March 2013, the country has experienced ongoing conflict and political unrest forcing millions to flee for their lives.

When you flee for your life, you don't look for your birth certificate, you just, run!

The most pressing needs for children living in or born within an IDP settlement (Internally Displaced Persons) are essential needs such as food, water, shelter. But as IDP locations become more established, children begin to recover and education begins in any way possible, so a birth certificate becomes very important.

Often, it's too late to obtain a birth certificate, until now :)

Key reasons

• Documents lost or left behind whilst fleeing war
• Cost. When a child reaches 6mths, a birth certificate costs 10,000 CFA francs (approx. $16.5 USD)
• Access. Remote villages have no registration offices or courts to apply to
• Lack of awareness amongst community re importance of a birth certificate for a child's future

In Central Africa Republic, children fight to survive, with one of the highest child mortality rates in the world, your gift is ensuring children can stand up, build a future and be counted!