Non-Registration of Children

According to UNICEF estimates, about 25% of Burundian children are not registered with the Civil Registry. This is due to various factors including the poverty situation for some parents, particularly in the Batwa minority communities, ignorance and neglect. Non-registration of children mainly affects the categories of newborns and those between the ages of 10 and 18 years. For the latter category, these are mainly children born before the proclamation of the government's decision to guarantee free health care for children under 5 in 2006. This measure encouraged parents and guardians to register. Their children, condition to benefit from this advantage. However, many households were unable to register their children over 5 years of age. Non-registered children are thus automatically deprived of a number of social and human rights benefits including health care and education.