iCivil is a CRVS (civil registration and vital statistics) system used in Burkina Faso since August 2015.^[1][2] It sequentially allows the declaration, recording, and addition of civil status certificates (birth, marriage, divorce) in a central place. It is not needed to travel far to register a birth or to obtain an extract of a birth certificate later.^[3]

The system uses wristbands with bubble tags to protect the unique ID number given at birth and an encrypted SMS to send information to civil status where records are kept.^{[citation needed]}

According to UNICEF, there are almost 230 million children younger than five years old not registered, who are known as ghost children. Resolving the problem of ghost children is a challenge in Africa.^[4]