The National Office of Civil Status and Identification (ONECI) is launching an offensive in the Tonkpi region. On Monday, June 15, 2026, the city of Man hosted a major information and awareness-raising meeting aimed at modernizing and digitizing the Ivorian civil registration system.

Chaired by the Secretary General of the Prefecture (representing the Regional Prefect), this meeting brought together key local stakeholders: administrative authorities, traditional chiefs, religious leaders, and opinion leaders. All committed themselves to a crucial challenge: guaranteeing legal identity for every citizen.

Focus on digitalization and modernization

The meeting began with the screening of an institutional film detailing the civil registration reforms in Côte d'Ivoire. This presentation highlighted the new digital mechanisms deployed to make the system more reliable, inclusive, and accessible.

Ms. Pélagie Gonto, Deputy Director General of ONECI, emphasized the urgency of the situation with a striking statement:

"An unregistered child remains invisible to the state."

She stressed that the civil status document is not just a piece of paperwork, but the essential key to accessing civic, social and economic rights throughout life.

Objective: 100% of declarations

Dr. Affessi Affessi, head of the Civil Registration project at ONECI, then presented the technological innovations and the special law on identity restoration (designed to correct existing anomalies). He invited local leaders to become true ambassadors for this cause.

A call received loud and clear by traditional and religious leaders, who have pledged to actively raise awareness in their communities to achieve the goal of 100% birth and death registration in Tonkpi.

UNFPA, a key partner for administrative inclusion

This campaign benefits from the strategic support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). As part of their 2026 Annual Work Plan (AWP), ONECI and UNFPA are focusing their efforts on three major priorities :

1. Local awareness-raising: Intensify campaigns in the Tonkpi and Nawa regions.
2. Digitalization at the source: Deploying mobile civil registration solutions in healthcare facilities to register newborns from birth.
3. Bringing services closer together: Create a new Civil Registry Office (BEC) in Yabayo to facilitate procedures for rural populations.

Through this synergy, ONECI reaffirms its ambition to build a modern, secure, and accessible public civil registration service for every Ivorian.