Burundi has equipped 13 municipalities with biometric civil registration systems as it works to digitize records of births, marriages and deaths and connect them with a national digital identity infrastructure.
Authorities highlighted the program during Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day. The modernization effort is intended to bring registration services closer to communities, improve the reliability of official records and reduce the number of people who have a registered birth but lack a certificate they can use to prove legal identity.
UNICEF data cited in reporting on the initiative show that 84 percent of children under five in Burundi have had their births registered, while 66 percent possess a birth certificate. The gap can limit access to education, health services and other programs that require documentary proof of identity.
The digital program includes electronic registration of vital events in pilot municipalities and the decentralization of services to local administrative areas. Health facilities are being connected so births and deaths recorded there can enter the civil registration system. Community leaders can also submit notifications for events that occur at home, extending coverage beyond hospitals and registration offices.
Burundi plans to use the civil registry as a foundation for a national digital identity system. A unique identification number would connect a person’s record across public services, while fingerprints and facial recognition would support identity checks and help reduce duplicate or manipulated records.
The approach follows a broader move to treat civil registration as part of digital public infrastructure rather than a standalone archive. Cameroon has been digitizing birth, marriage and death certificates under a system that assigns a unique personal identification number. Malawi’s current strategy similarly links continuous civil registration with universal legal identity and a planned digital ID wallet.
Sources: We Are Tech Africa
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
