Presentation of the National Assembly Report on Children without Identity – Participation of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne at the presentation by Deputies Laurence Dumont and Aina Kuric (3 Mar. 2021)

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Mr Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State for Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and Francophonie attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, represented the government at the presentation of the National Assembly report on “children without identity” on Wednesday, 3 March. This very well documented analysis by Deputies Laurence Dumont and Aina Kuric highlights a little-known situation which is both the consequence and the source of major inequalities. According to UNICEF, 166 million children aged under 5 are not currently on civil registers in their countries, particularly in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Their lack of legal existence deprives them of all rights.

The report has considerably enriched the bill on inclusive development and the fight against global inequalities by introducing the goal of action to foster the establishment of reliable civil registry systems. The 23 operational recommendations, adopted unanimously by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee, were almost all approved by the Government. They will lead to a significant increase in France’s action in the area of legal identity: at bilateral level, particularly in relations with the neighbouring States of our overseas territories; at European level, fostering enhanced cooperation with African countries; and lastly at multilateral level, in collaboration with UNICEF and the international institutions of La Francophonie.

The Minister of State announced that an interministerial roadmap on the subject would be adopted by the summer and would include precise indicators in order to measure the impact of the progress made.