Life stages in Gabon

Gabon has no single nationwide life-stage service that covers every transition. Support depends on the person's age, citizenship, employment and insurance status, income, location and immediate risk. In 2024, the population was about 2.54 million and life expectancy was approximately 69 years, but national and local data are not equally current or complete. The first formal transition is birth registration. Parents or another authorized person report a birth to the civil registrar at the mairie, mairie d'arrondissement, prefecture, sous-prefecture or a diplomatic representation. The deadline is three days in communes and district capitals and 30 days elsewhere. Registration itself is free, although copies of the acte de naissance, the birth certificate, may involve a fee. The document supports identification, school admission, voting, inheritance and access to social assistance. A birth outside a health facility, missing witnesses, absent parental recognition or travel and administrative costs can delay registration. Late registration can be pursued through the Ministère des Affaires Sociales, mairies or prefectures, but no uniform late fee or nationwide sanction was verified. Under Gabon's Code de l'Enfant, an enfant is a person under 18. Children have rights to a name and identity, family links, maintenance, housing, contact, adoption safeguards and protection from neglect and violence. Vulnerable children may receive support for school, education or vocational training, and public health facilities provide free treatment for vulnerable children. Routine vaccinations for children under five are free. Adolescents aged 12 to 18 can receive puberty and reproductive-health education, while access to information and protection remains uneven. Education and the move toward work form another major transition. Law 21/2011 provides compulsory education and training access from ages three to 16 for Gabonese citizens and foreign residents, with equal-access provisions. A move from primary education toward basic vocational training can occur from age 12 after repetition, and educational, university and vocational placement is handled through the Ministère or Secrétariat d'Orientation. The Agence Nationale des Bourses du Gabon manages scholarships. Education does not automatically provide an apprenticeship or job. Published UNICEF figures from 2017 recorded completion rates of about 57% for primary school, 24% for lower secondary school and 10% for upper secondary school. Gabon legally uses more than one age threshold. The term jeune covers ages 18 to 40 in the relevant youth framework. Voting begins at 18 subject to citizenship and registration requirements, and a person can generally sign an employment contract alone from 18; employment from age 16 involves assistance from a legal representative. The Code de la nationalité states 21 as the general age of majority, with exceptions for some 18-year-olds and married persons. Youth support therefore combines skills training, vocational preparation, formal or informal employment and entrepreneurship rather than a general maintenance entitlement. In 2023, unemployment among people aged 15 and over was about 20.4%, and approximately 29.3% of young people were not in employment, education or training. Youth aged 16 to 25 facing social difficulties may qualify for CNAMGS social-guarantee coverage after assessment. Formal employment connects a worker to the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale (CNSS), which covers maternity, family benefits, work risks, invalidity, old age and survivors when the insurance and contribution conditions are met. Maternity protection under the Labour Code lasts 14 weeks, normally six weeks before birth and eight weeks after birth; multiple births add two postnatal weeks. The actual protection available depends on employment, registration and contribution status. Older-age support is divided between contributory and means-tested pathways. The CNAMGS Garantie sociale includes people aged 60 and over and other groups such as people with disabilities, low-income survivors, single mothers under 45 and young people aged 16 to 25 in social hardship. The GEF category, Gabonais Économiquement Faible, identifies Gabonese citizens aged at least 16 whose income is below the statutory minimum wage and whose situation is confirmed by a social investigation. Support can include direct or indirect cash transfers, reduced health costs, education or vocational assistance and technical aids for people with disabilities. These services depend on assessment and available budgets rather than providing an unconditional payment. CNSS can provide old-age, invalidity and survivors' pensions, an old-age allowance and early retirement applications for some people aged 55 to 59, subject to insurance, contribution, age and employment-ending conditions. There is no verified nationwide entitlement to formal long-term care, a universal care allowance, an EHPAD equivalent or standardized residential elder care. Families and communities provide most day-to-day care, with additional help from the National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology, the Ministère de la Santé, the Ministère des Affaires Sociales, CNAMGS, municipalities and NGOs. A WHO-supported campaign offered free screenings, counselling, glasses and registration and reached about 3,000 older people, with 1,000 files in Owendo, Ntoum, Ndjolé and Lambaréné. That campaign was a project, not evidence of a permanent nationwide service. Crises involving children or dependent people require a different pathway. Violence, abandonment, street-connected children and children in conflict with the law can be reported to the police, social services, AMPE, CAPEDS or a court. AMPE is a multisectoral child-protection service within the Ministère des Affaires Sociales; CAPEDS and related services can provide temporary accommodation, educational or psychosocial support and family or institutional reintegration. UNICEF reported in 2025 that specialized child-friendly police units existed in 54 communes. No single nationwide 24-hour hotline was verified. Older indicators also show why protection remains a concern: UNICEF data recorded child marriage before 18 at about 22% among women aged 20 to 24, child labour at about 19% among children aged 5 to 17 and sexual violence before 18 at about 9% among young women, all based on 2012 data; an adolescent birth-rate estimate of 115 per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19 came from 2009-2014. These figures should not be treated as current national measurements. A practical transition usually links several records and services: birth registration enables school, health and social-assistance access; education leads to placement or training; employment can create CNSS protection; loss of income or dependency can lead to a CNAMGS or GEF assessment; and a protection crisis can require social, police and judicial action. The responsible office, available documents, costs and waiting time can vary by province, municipality and whether the service is a permanent public program, a project or an informal family arrangement.