The extraordinary results of “Bravo!" published by the World Health Organization

A Program for free birth registration of newborns in Burkina Faso

The World Health Bulletin devotes much attention to the Bravo! Program by publishing the results of a one year study to evaluating the positive outcome in two different district of Burkina Faso. (Link below)

In the two town of Godyr and Réo there are 11 registries, currently run by civili status officers. They have been placed in sites which are also very familiar to women in need of healthcare. Since then, registrations of newborns have increased by more than 250%. This is a great achievement, especially in a region where only just over half of children between zero and five get a birth certificate.

At the end of the 12 months study, more than 88.5% of newborns received the birth certificate: an extraordinary achievement just as the highest international standards.
 The procedures put in place are simple and free of charge. Within the health centers, civil status officers are always available to raise awareness and provide full assistance for the registration and the consignment of a birth certificate.

Bravo! As also studied the correlation between birth registration and the medical and social characteristics of children attending health centers. Results clearly show that this system is allowing even the poorest and most vulnerable women to overcome any kind of obstacles in registering their children. The Bravo! pilot project way is now at the core of a new registration system for newborns children, currently being used in all the municipalities of both Center-Ouest and Center areas. By the end of 2019, 220 new registration centers will be functioning in the different health centers.

Read the Bravo! paper on the World Health Organization Bulletin