Linking civil registration services with neonatal health care, a case study of the Program BRAVO! of the Community of Sant'Egidio in Burkina Faso

Americo Abel Sardiñha, Community of Sant'Egidio
Maria Castiglioni, Università di Padova
Francesco Di Domenicantonio, Community of Sant'Egidio
Palmira Gianturco, Community of Sant'Egidio
Evelina Martelli, Community of Sant'Egidio

The BRAVO! Program of the Community of Sant'Egidio supports States aiming at strengthening their civil registration systems and is currently cooperating with Mozambique and Burkina Faso. The strategy is to link civil registration services to the health system, in order to reach children immediately after birth. In Burkina Faso BRAVO! is supporting local authorities of one rural and one urban district to run stable registration centers in every health facility, promoting birth registration of children born or vaccinated there. An impact evaluation study has been designed, comparing the two study districts with two comparable control districts. Retrospective and current data are collected from civil registration registers and health registers for delivery and vaccination. The study aims at investing the increase of civil birth registrations, its coverage and possible exclusion of the most vulnerable children. In the first months of the study the birth registration rate has significantly increased.