Thanks to our partnership model and our Kenyan teams’ advocacy, Tiaty’s first ever Civil Registration Services office has opened at Chemolingot shopping centre, operated by 2 permanent Government staff. It is a significant milestone. Children need a birth certificate to continue their education, get a job, vote  and become active citizens in their communities. For the children from 8 of our partner schools in the area, with 3,500 primary-aged children, this new facility means that now, they can obtain one.

41% of children in our Baringo primary schools don’t have a birth certificate. 

Our So They Can team in Kenya have been supporting Tiaty families to access their birth certificates. The challenge has been that the nearest Government office in Kabarnet is 300 kms away. The cost, time and security risk to travel the distance meant that children were not officially registered, and held no formal documentation.

The new office is a result of So They Can’s tireless approach working with the government, to effectively influence government support that improves access to education, and civil rights, for the long term.

‘The Civil Registration Services Office in Tiaty is such a milestone, not only to the students who require birth certificates, but for all residents. For the longest time, due to marginalisation, they do not have birth certificates, and as a result they can’t access most government services, including the critical right to vote. 

We’re excited that So They Can’s effort in lobbying and mobilising the local government leadership has enabled a whole community to benefit from this very important government service. As an organisation, we take pride that the people of Tiaty will remember us for fighting for them to count in the country’s demographic statistics’. 

Boniface Mouti, Kenya Country Manager, So They Can

In 2024, So They Can supported 400 children in Baringo to obtain their birth certificate. In 2025, we will support 1,280 more children. For schools, every child enrolled with a birth certificate, increases a school’s annual Government funding.

‘The birth certificates have been quite instrumental in enabling our school to get more funding which has gone a long way to help us acquire a mobile laboratory for the school at a cost of KES 400,000 (approx. AUD $4,600). Initially, our Junior Secondary students used to walk to the nearby secondary school – almost two kilometers away – whenever they wanted to carry out any science related experiments. This caused a lot of inconvenience in terms of time and logistic arrangements. Now our students can be safe, and on time, since they don’t have to walk again to the neighbouring school. Besides the walking, they can access the laboratory equipment any time they need to do an experiment unlike when they used to make an appointment with Chemolingot Secondary School to use their laboratory. It is a great relief brought about by increased capitation [government funding] due to acquisition of birth certificates for the students. Thank you So They Can for the support!‘

– Bishop Joseph Losute, Chairman of AIC Sunrise Primary School, Baringo, Kenya

So They Can is urgently seeking to mobilise $11,500 so that we can support 1,280 families in Baringo to access their child’s birth certificate. Can you help us? Please donate now.