A Baka, a Birth Certificate, a National Identity Card, an Elite

The indigenous Baka peoples have the right to decide their own identity or affiliation in accordance with their customs and traditions, without prejudice to the right of the Baka to obtain, individually, all civil status documents (Birth Certificate, National Identity Card, Marriage Certificate, Death Certificate, Passport). In Cameroon, less than 10% of Baka possess a civil status document. This situation makes them more vulnerable, as it places these communities on the margins of the functioning of the State. How can they assert their rights if they are not identifiable? How can they move around without identification? How can they be educated without a birth certificate? How can they apply for jobs without being identifiable? How can they contribute to the proper functioning of the state if it does not recognize them as citizens?

Our Association has set itself the mission of making indigenous peoples partners in sustainable development and nature conservation, with the vision of creating an elite among indigenous peoples capable of managing and implementing the projects of which they are the beneficiaries. To this end, it is important for us to definitively address the issue of their inaccessibility to civil status documents..

The Project One Baka, One Birth Certificate, One National Identity Card, One Elite is for us the way to address a concrete response to this problem.

This project aims overall to

Improving the accessibility of indigenous peoples to civil status documents 

Specifically it is:

•  Establish birth certificates for all baka;
•  Establish national identity cards for all baka;
•  Create and train an Elite Baka.

Area of intervention: Messok

Budget: 100,000 Euro