The NGO is currently leading a campaign against statelessness, in partnership with UNHCR, the High Commissioner for Refugees. The organization raises awareness among the populations of the communes of Karimama and Ouidah of the importance of registering their children at birth so that they can have a nationality and benefit from all their rights.
” Registering a birth is the first step to prevent the child from becoming stateless, and thus ensure the enjoyment of all their rights. “, one can read on a poster of Amnesty International. In the communes of Ouidah and Karimama, on the border with Niger, Amnesty distributes birth certificates free of charge. A basic document that allows anyone to have a legal existence and a nationality.
The organization also raises public awareness. In Karimama, on the border with Niger, these actions are necessary because of the rurality of the area, explains Pricilia Acapovi, administration manager of Amnesty International Benin.
“You’ll already be told: ‘girls don’t need to go to school’ or ‘we’d rather send the children to the fields’, so we don’t really feel the importance of registering . I think a lot of these are not people who routinely go to hospitals to give birth. We do not find the importance of going to declare, of having a document that will not be used later”, she explains.
Not having been registered at birth, however, poses many problems later, assures Pricilia Acapovi. It is difficult to prove one’s belonging to a country, to obtain an identity document, to send a child to school or to access healthcare. “It raises the concern of registration at school: subsequently to participate in an exam you necessarily need an identity document. It is also the proof of belonging to such and such a country in the world”, affirms the head of administration of Amnesty International Benin, joined by Magali Lagrange of the Africa department.
Amnesty International also stresses the importance of obtaining the birth certificate once it has been established. The organization must continue its campaign until the end of the year.