Civil status: ANIP launches enrollment of children without birth certificates
Benin takes a new step in guaranteeing the right to identity with an initiative from the National Agency for Identification of Persons (ANIP) aimed at enrolling children who have never been registered with the civil registry.
This information was made public on Thursday, January 29, 2026, through ANIP’s digital channels.
According to the agency, children aged 0 to 13 who lack any birth certificate will now be recorded in official records on the basis of a sworn statement, thus paving the way for the issuance of a secure civil-status certificate.
This measure is part of a broader modernization movement of civil registration in Benin, led by ANIP for several years. Law No. 2017-08, which created the agency and set the framework for identifying individuals, has served as the foundation for various registration operations and the issuance of identity documents.
The reform and digitization of civil registration services have already enabled significant progress: in 2025, ANIP issued 10.5 million civil status and identity documents, with nearly 75% of procedures carried out online or remotely, serving about 4 million citizens.
Registering children without a birth certificate addresses a major social and legal issue. Without official recognition at birth, a child remains invisible to the State and is often deprived of access to essential services such as education, healthcare or social protection. From this perspective, this enrollment component strengthens the inclusion and protection of the youngest.
The initiative also fits into an international dynamic that places legal identity and birth certificates in particular at the center of children’s fundamental rights, as highlighted by partners such as UNICEF in recent reports on modernizing civil registration systems.
ANIP indicates that this process will help bring the State closer to families and ensure that every child can benefit from a legally recognized existence, reflecting an approach that blends digital innovation and social justice to address a historical situation where people lacked papers in the official records.
Comments