West and Central Africa

1 in 3 children in Cameroon is deprived of a legal identity..., How many are there in your commune? How many children are deprived of access to school, protection and other rights because they have no legal identity? Mayors of Cameroon, you have the power to change this and build a better Cameroon. By creating more birth registration points in local centres. You can ensure every child in your community has a…, Highlights from the Mayor's Forum, View photos below UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 UNICEF Cameroon 2024 Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Banner image featuring an illustration of men and women wearing traditional attire., The Charter of the Mayors of Cameroon, They are taking up the challenge, UNICEF Champions Engage, Fabrice Ondoa, goalkeeper for the Indomitable Lions    S.M. Nfonrifoum Mbombo Njoya Mouhamed Nabil, Sultan Roi des Bamouns    , The Partners of the Challenge, 7 logos lined up  , How to accelerate universal birth registration, An illustration featuring the birth registration process What it means to be deprived of a legal identity: Without a birth certificate, an individual does not legally exist, and the guarantee of all fundamental rights is compromised. Legal identity is a fundamental right of the SDGs and in the African Child Charter, The Legal Identity Challenge, From March 18 to June 16, 2024, MINDDEVEL, BUNEC and UNICEF are challenging Cameroon's mayors to create new registration points in health centers and town halls, and to register children without legal identity in elementary school., One year to change with the Mayors, Week of 12 March, Launch of the campaign, April, Dissemination of detailed information on the situation in each municipality. Mobilisation of municipalities to work with judges and civil registrars to ensure Birth Registration as many children as possible who will sit the exams. Target: register 76,000 pupils., May, School exams - the aim is to ensure that the 76,000 children who are currently unregistered can sit their exams with a birth certificate., 16 June, Day of the African Child, 26 July - 11 August, Paris 2024 Olympics, 10 August, African Day on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), 28 August - 8 September, Paris Paralympic Games, September, Start of the school year, October, Counting of campaign results, 20 November, 35 years of the Convention. Announcement of results and Municipal awards., What is birth registration and why is it important, In target 16.9, Goal 16 of the MDGs calls for all people to be guaranteed a legal identity by 2030, in particular through birth registration. The declaration and registration of births, and official entry in civil registers, constitute the first official recognition of a child's existence. A birth certificate is an official document that can…

UNICEF’s MyName campaign aims to generate continental mobilization for universal birth registration in Africa, using the power of sport. This includes working with some of the continent’s leading football stars to showcase how registration and identity has empowered their path to success.  Tremendous progress has been achieved over the past…

NEW YORK/DAKAR/N’DJAMENA, 26 June 2023– Children and families who have arrived in Eastern Chad in search of safety after fleeing the intensifying conflict in the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur, now face new needs and challenges as they seek refuge in provinces of Chad that are already some of the most deprived. As of 23 June, more than 140…

Since the onset of the conflict in Sudan on April 15, Chad faces a massive influx of refugees from Sudan, together with Chadian returnees. According to the latest figures, around 150,000 people had crossed the Chadian border by mid-June, and numbers continue to increase. On 16 and 17 June, following yet another outbreak of violence in El Geneina,…, 13-year old Abdelaziz show the drawing he did while attending a Child-Friendly space in Koufroun, a Chadian village in eastern Chad hosting refugees from Sudan. "I want peace so that I can go home to Sudan" he says., UNICEF/UNI399784/Mahamat A UNICEF staff member interacts with children sitting in a Child-Friendly-Space UNI399790, UNICEF Chad child protection officer Valery Nodjimadji sits with children in a Child-Friendly space in Koufroun, a Chadian village in eastern Chad hosting refugees from Sudan. The Child-Friendly Spaces are run by UNICEF partner the Chadian Red Cross. Children can have fun, enjoy themselves in a safe space and receive psycho-social support., UNICEF/UNI399790/Mahamat Young girls are standing near a newly installed borehole to fetch water UNI399785, Children are fetching water from a UNICEF-installed borehole in the village of Koufroun in eastern Chad, on the border with Sudan. Koufroun is home to thousands of Sudanese refugees. Even before they arrived, the village had poor access to clean water, the borehole helps both refugees and host communities., UNICEF/UNI399785/Mahamat A landscape image featuring children and women with their donkeys near a newly installed water borehole UNI399786, UNICEF has set up boreholes in the villages hosting refugees, for the use of both refugees and host communities., UNICEF/UNI399786/Mahamat A young boy holds a small blackboard in his hands on which he has drawn a house A UNICEF staff member interacts with children sitting in a Child-Friendly-Space Young girls are standing near a newly installed borehole to fetch water A landscape image featuring children and women with their donkeys near a newly installed…

Emergencies infringe on many individual basic rights, including access to a name and a nationality. In almost all emergencies, including armed conflicts, natural disasters and humanmade hazards, vital event registration systems become dysfunctional and, in extreme cases, they collapse entirely, archives may be destroyed, and documents are lost.…

This publication provides an overview of the nutrition situation in the Sahel, the current challenges and how UNICEF and partners can take action to shift the paradigm and focus on scaling interventions to prevent malnutrition. A banner featuring a mother smiling as she holds her baby close to her, In this region, childhood is full of risks and threats. Many essential services are simply not available., Africa's Sahel Region, It is a semi-arid climatic region along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert covering approximately 3,053 million km2, stretching from the Atlantic coast in the west, to the Red Sea in the east. Malnutrition, especially undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, is one of the many challenges children face in an already fragile region. A…, Reconsidering malnutrition in the Sahel, A malnourished child in the Sahel is not just the image of a dangerously thin child who isn’t getting enough to eat. The vast majority of children in the region are affected by at least 3 different forms of malnutrition – wasting, stunting and micronutrient deficiencies. To prevent wasting and stunting we need to ensure that children can benefit…, Here is Djamila’s story. If we work together, differently, and make the right investments, it could be the story of every child in the Sahel., We must act now to help the Sahel recover., Investing in nutrition well-being and closing the funding gaps will enable UNICEF and partners to strengthen priority systems to deliver for children. The time for taking action is now, and we have solutions.   ____________________________________________________  , PREVENTION OF MALNUTRITION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD,   Breastfeeding Promote early initiation of breastfeeding in primary health care, exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months, and then continued breastfeeding up to two years. Support governments with a legal framework and on-the-ground interventions to ban inappropriate promotion and distribution of breastmilk substitutes, and to support healthy food…, EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT OF LIFE-THREATENING MALNUTRITION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD,   Early detection of wasting Intensify efforts to strengthen the capacity of mothers, caregivers and community actors to detect and monitor their children’s nutritional status.  Empowering mothers is key to tackle undernutrition. A mother holds her baby as she gets screened for malnutrition Treatment of wasting Scale-up simplified approaches to…, Nutrition is a lifelong issue, The effects of poor nutrition start in the womb, but continue into adulthood, and cycle across generations. While malnutrition can trap generations of children in a cycle of poverty, good nutrition, particularly in infancy, is the building block for future health and development. A lifecycle approach to nutrition programming ensures that we target…, We must invest in Nutrition Now!, To ensure every child in the Sahel has access to essential nutrition programmes, we need to close the funding gaps. A visual of a quote written in white on a blue background We want to take full advantage of this opportunity to ensure that every mother and child in the Sahel has the chance of a better future. Together we can safeguard the progress…, 1UNICEF // Nutrition Now: For the Sahel. For every child. Context // UNICEF/UNI116268/Pirozzi2023 // For the Sahel,for every child NOWNUTRITION 3UNICEF // Nutrition Now: For the Sahel. For every child. Context // SAHEL REGION //// In this region, childhood is full of risks and threats. Many essential services are simply not available. It is a semi…

ADDIS ABABA, 24 October 2022 – Of the 164 million unregistered children under 5 worldwide, more than half (around 91 million) live in Africa, according to a new statistical update on birth registration in Africa, published by UNICEF in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Nearly half of all African children under 5 are…

Strategy Advancement Report  The need for access to safe and sustainable water services in the West and Central Africa region is immense. In 2020, only 65% of people in SubSaharan Africa had access to basic water service, and only 30% had access to a safely managed water service. The situation in schools and healthcare facilities is even more dire…

At least 85,000 refugees have arrived around the Chadian capital N’Djamena in December, fleeing intercommunity violence in neighboring northern Cameroon. The refugees – a vast majority of whom are women, children, and elderly - recall stories of extreme violence. UNICEF is on the ground to make sure they receive lifesaving support. Mariam Adoum…

NIAMEY/DAKAR/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 18 August 2021 - “UNICEF is deeply shocked and outraged by the terrible attacks against children and families by unidentified armed groups in the village of Darey-dey, in the rural commune of Banibangou, Tillabery region, in western Niger that took place on 16 August 2021. “We are saddened to confirm that at least 37…

"I have three birthdays a year," explains Adama Coulibaly with a mischievous laugh, "on the presumed date of my birth, 24 th July, on the date of the supplementary judgement for children born 'around', the 1 st  January, and finally on 31th December, the date on which I was enrolled in an administrative census.” While this incongruity makes him…

Please find attached Annex 1