Senegal seeks to reform civil status system through digitalization

The National Organization for the Promotion of Civil Status (ONPEC) held a national forum on September 23, 2026, to discuss the reform of Senegal’s civil status system. The event, themed ‘Civil status in Senegal: national issue, international dimension,’ brought together the National Civil Status Agency (ANEC), the Association of Mayors of Senegal (AMS), civil society, and various institutional partners.

During the forum, Ibrahima Etia, a director at ANEC, emphasized that digitalization is the primary solution to existing challenges within the system. ANEC is currently implementing a national remediation plan to modernize and secure civil status management. This includes the use of management software for agents and a digital platform for users to request documents and receive notifications.

Etia noted that while several of Senegal’s 629 civil status centers have begun digital transformation, a comprehensive law on the computerization of civil status is still required from the National Assembly to provide a proper legal framework. The ultimate goal is to create a digitized, indexed national civil status register to centralize and secure data.