Ivory Coast ghost children deprived of access to fundamental rights

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00:00 Maya and her team of volunteers walk through the Boaké market to help mothers whose children do not have a birth certificate.

00:08 You didn't get a birth certificate, you go there, they will explain to you how to do it.

00:13 Child births in Ivory Coast are largely undeclared.

00:16 Many parents blame poverty and the lack of time for this.

00:20 Half of child births are not declared on time and 32% of them never get declared at all.

00:29 We didn't have time to register them, so they refused my two children in school.

00:34 I have to register them, but I'm told that without a certificate they can't take them, so I'm stuck.

00:39 A special law now allows parents who register the birth of their children late to do so free with no penalties.

00:48 However, many young people are still not aware of this change.

00:53 It's not free, that's why I do wheelbarrow work. I have to make money to copy my birth certificate.

00:58 UNICEF and the foundation of the Ivorian football star Sébastien Halla are organizing a football tournament in several cities in Ivory Coast until December.

01:09 To participate, one has to have a birth certificate.

01:13 Each winning team will be invited to Abidjan to meet and spend time with Sébastien.

01:18 Every winning team will be invited to Abidjan to meet and spend time with Sébastien.

01:24 The desire to win and meet this star gave many people the desire to participate.

01:29 On the edges of the field where the games are happening,

01:32 Onesi, the office responsible for national identification in Ivory Coast, takes some of the participants through the registration process.

01:40 Onesi wants to raise awareness and digitize its registration process to make it easier for parents to register their children.

01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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