Alarmed at the situation of 'ghost children' in sub-Saharan Africa – children who have not been registered at birth and are thus subject to many social barriers and dangers – Thierry Cornillet MEP (ALDE, France) has launched an initiative during the plenary session at Strasbourg with view to asking the European Commission for a specific programme in the EU's post-2020 budget to support the national and local authorities of these countries in the field of birth registrations.