Burkina Faso
A well developed and functioning civil registration system ensures the registration of all vital events including births, marriages and deaths and issues relevant certificates as proof of such registration. Civil registration promotes efficient government planning, effective use of resources and aid, and more accurate monitoring of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Birth Registration
Legal framework for birth registration | Code of the Person and the Family (Zatu an VII 13, 16 November 1989) |
Official authorities in charge of registering births | Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security (MATDS)/Directorate of Civil Registration
Directorate-General of Civil Registration Modernization (DGMEC) Mayors of municipalities |
Organizational structure | Decentralized |
Is there a legal obligation to register the birth of a child? | Yes |
Is an official birth certificate issued as a result of birth registration? | Yes, immediately |
Legal informant to register a birth | Father and mother, One of the grandparents, Other relative who attended the birth;
The declaration of birth is the responsibility of the father, mother or one of the parents or other relatives who attended the birth. The birth certificate may be drawn up on the declaration of the persons in charge of the sub-sectors (Code of Persons and the Family, article 107). |
Time allowed for registration | 60 days (2 months) |
Fee for birth registration | Yes |
Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
Fee for birth certificate | Yes, fee for legal copies of the certificate are compulsory in some areas |
Penalty for late registration | No, but associated judicial fees |
Other official fees involved in the birth registration process | No |
Requirements or fees specific to children who are eligible for citizenship but were born outside the country | No |
Requirements or fees specific to children whose parents are foreign nationals | No |
Requirements for birth registration | Identification of the child’s father, Identification of the child’s mother, Birth notification, Name of the child |
Information collected | Regarding the child: Name, Sex, Date of birth, Date of registration, Place of occurrence of the birth, Place of registration
Regarding the mother of the child: Date of birth or age, Place of usual residence, Occupation Regarding the father of the child: Date of birth or age, Place of usual residence, Occupation |
Processing | Manually (on paper);
All vital events are directly recorded on non-standardized forms, their fill fields are free and they are manually filled in cursive writing, which prohibits their subsequent exploitation by optical character recognition. |
Place of registration | Chief towns of the department and the communes (primary centres);
Health units in villages and sectors of towns and communes, place of birth (secondary centres) (Persons and the Family, article 61). |
A birth certificate is required for: | Identification, Education, Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance |
Process for establishing vital statistics on births | There is no well-defined operational organization in the production of vital statistics. However, since 2014, there is a continuous production of vital statistics (births, marriages and deaths) through a pilot operation in the Eastern Region over a period of 6 months financed by the European Union. As part of this project the following steps were taken to support the generation of statistics:
– Preparation of collection sheets; – Drafting of a manual to serve as a guide and reference for the collection of vital statistics; – Training for registrars on filling of registers and statistical cards; – Distribution of the data sheets to the staff of the civil registration centres at the end of the training; – Starting the collection of vital statistics throughout the country with a catch-up of the events that have taken place since the beginning of the year. |
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Marriage Registration
Legal framework for marriage registration | Code of the Person and the Family (Zatu an VII 13, 16 November 1989) |
Official authorities in charge of registering a marriage | Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security (MATDS)/Directorate of Civil Registration
Directorate-General of Civil Registration Modernization (DGMEC) Mayors of municipalities |
Organizational structure | Decentralized |
Legal age for marriage | 20 years for males, 17 for females;
Exemptions: Marriage may be contracted only between a male over 20 years of age and a female over 17 years of age, unless granted by the civil court. This exemption of age cannot be granted under any circumstances for a male under the age of 18 and a female under the age of 15 (Code of Persons and the Family, article 238). |
Is there a legal obligation to register marriages? | Yes |
Is an official marriage certificate issued as a result of marriage registration? | Yes, immediately |
Legal informant to register a marriage | Spouses |
Time allowed for registration | Not specified;
The marriage shall be celebrated before the civil registrar of the place where the marriage record was constituted. However, the civil court of that place may, at the request of the prospective spouses, if there are just reasons, authorize the celebration of the marriage by another civil registrar. In this case, the marriage file shall be forwarded to the civil registrar designated for that purpose by the diligence of the future spouses (Code of Persons and the Family, article 273). |
Fee for marriage registration | No |
Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
Fee for marriage certificate | No |
Penalty for late registration | No |
Other official fees involved in the marriage registration process | Yes, filing fees vary from one civil registration centre to another |
Additional registration requirements or fees if one spouse was born outside the country or has dual citizenship | No |
Requirements for marriage registration | Presence of husband at place of registration, Presence of wife at place of registration, Residential evidence of husband, Residential evidence of wife, Proof of wife’s age, Proof of husband’s age
The marriage record shall include the following: – An extract of the birth certificate of each of the future spouses or a substitute judgment in lieu thereof; – A certificate of residence for each of the future spouses; – Certificate of premarital visit issued by a physician. However, in localities where there is no doctor, this medical certificate can be issued by a health worker, and requires, where applicable, a certificate of non-pregnancy; an administrative authorization from superiors; the consent of the father and mother or of one of the persons referred to in sections 241 and 243; choice of the matrimonial regime adopted by the future spouses and a copy of the marriage contract; the declaration of option of polygamy ascertained in the form provided for in article 258 (Code of Persons and the Family, article 253). |
Information collected | The marriage certificate must state:
– Surname, forename, occupation, age, date and place of birth, homes and residence of the husband; (Code of Persons and the Family, article 112). |
Processing | Manually (on paper);
All vital events are directly recorded on non-standardized forms, their fill fields are free and they are manually filled in cursive writing, which prohibits their subsequent exploitation by optical character recognition. |
Place of registration | The registration of marriages takes place at the level of the main civil status centres and the secondary centres, by the registrar of the place of residence of the spouses. |
A marriage certificate is required for: | Inheritance, Registration of children, Insurance |
Process for establishing vital statistics on marriage | There is no well-defined operational organization in the production of vital statistics. However, since 2014, there is a continuous production of vital statistics (births, marriages and deaths) through a pilot operation in the Eastern Region over a period of 6 months financed by the European Union. As part of this project the following steps were taken to support the generation of statistics:
– Preparation of collection sheets; – Drafting of a manual to serve as a guide and reference for the collection of vital statistics; – Training for registrars on filling of registers and statistical cards; – Distribution of the data sheets to the staff of the civil registration centres at the end of the training; – Starting the collection of vital statistics throughout the country with a catch-up of the events that have taken place since the beginning of the year. |
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Death Registration
Legal framework for death registration | Code of the Person and the Family (Zatu an VII 13, 16 November 1989) |
Official authorities in charge of registering a death | Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security (MATDS)/Directorate of Civil Registration
Directorate-General of Civil Registration Modernization (DGMEC) Mayors of municipalities |
Organizational structure | Decentralized |
Is there a legal obligation to register deaths? | Yes |
Is an official death certificate issued as a result of death registration? | Yes, immediately |
Legal informant to register a death | Surviving spouse, Ascendants or descendants, Sub-sector officials, Any person possessing the most accurate and complete information possible on the civil status of the deceased
(Code of Persons and the Family, article 117). |
Time allowed for registration | 60 days (2 months) |
Fee for death registration | No |
Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
Fee for death certificate | No |
Penalty for late registration | No |
Other official fees involved in the death registration process | No |
Registration requirements or fees specific for the deaths of people who were residents in the country and also of foreign nationality | No |
Requirements for death registration | No |
Information collected | Regarding the deceased: Name, Sex, Date of birth or age, Place of usual residence, Place of birth, Occupation, Name of parents
Regarding the death: Date of death, Date of registration, Place of occurrence, Place of registration |
Information collected in case of fetal death | Fetal deaths are not registered. |
Processing | Manually (on paper);
In the closing month, the secondary centres centralize the collection sheets (births and deaths) at the main centre, which are then forwarded to the High Commission (provincial capital). At the level of the High Commission, the forms of the different main centres are centralized and sent to the governorate (chief-region). The governorate centralizes the collection sheets from the various civil registries in the provinces and transmits them to the central level (DGMEC/MATDS) for processing. |
Place of registration | Chief towns of the department and the communes (primary centers);
Health units in villages and sectors of towns and communes, place of birth (secondary centers) (Code of Persons and the Family, article 61). |
A death certificate is required for: | Burial, Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance |
Process for establishing vital statistics on deaths | There is no well-defined operational organization in the production of vital statistics. However, since 2014, there is a continuous production of vital statistics (births, marriages and deaths) through a pilot operation in the Eastern Region over a period of 6 months financed by the European Union. As part of this project the following steps were taken to support the generation of statistics:
– Preparation of collection sheets; – Drafting of a manual to serve as a guide and reference for the collection of vital statistics; – Training for registrars on filling of registers and statistical cards; – Distribution of the data sheets to the staff of the civil registration centres at the end of the training; – Starting the collection of vital statistics throughout the country with a catch-up of the events that have taken place since the beginning of the year. |
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.