What seem to be most basic necessities to others do not come as easy for Sama Bajau families living in highly vulnerable situations. Ismael and his wife, Nursiya, have seven children – all of them without birth registration. Because of financial difficulties, they could not afford to register any one of their child. The most Nursiya could do was to tear a page of the calendar every time she gave birth as a reminder of the day when her children were born.
As birth registration is the main reference for social security and protection against statelessness, the Sama Bajau Capacity Strengthening Project (SBCSP) assisted Nursiya in this dilemma. Nursiya, with the support of the SBCSP, visited the Office of the Civil Registrar (OCR) to appear for the evaluation of her requests for the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) for all of her kids. She was hesitant and nervous at first, but eventually relaxed. When asked for the birthdates of her children, she was glad to share the information, grateful that she kept the pages of the calendar to save the dates. Nursiya felt relief, excited, and gratitude that she can expect to finally receive COLBs for her children after so long.
The SBCSP, implemented by CFSI through the funding support of the European Union, aims to support vulnerable Sama Bajau families and address their risks to statelessness by providing 300 family beneficiaries with capacity strengthening activities on civil, human, and political rights, trainings on environmentally sustainable income-generating activities, and livelihood starter kits.
To learn more about the SBCSP, click here to view the Project Briefer.
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