Internal govt coordination can help meet birth registration target in Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the biggest improvements must be made to meet the UN’s birth registration goals, but UNICEF’s latest report also points to Oceania and South Asia as regions where too few people hold birth certificates. The agency sees mixed results in Asia, where the integration of different government bodies offers both a challenge and an opportunity for improvement.

While 8 out of every 10 births around the world over the past five years were registered, a new report, “The Right Start in Life: Global Levels and Trends in Birth Registration, 2024 Update,” shows significant room for improvement.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 targets universal legal identity by 2030, including birth registration.

Oceania, excluding Australia and New Zealand, has the lowest rate of birth registration, at only 26 percent of children under 5. The majority of children unregistered, however, and of countries with low levels of birth registration, are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Ninety million children under five years old in sub-Saharan Africa have not been registered. Another 42 million, out of the remaining 60 million, live in Central and Southern Asia.

Many registrations are happening well after birth, as the report shows nearly 3 in 10 infants worldwide have not been registered, and birth certificates have not been issued for 4 out of 10.

The 32-page report provides maps identifying the countries lagging behind in birth and child registration, outline disparities and barriers to registration, and assesses the progress towards universal birth registration over time. A forecast based on continued progress estimates the number of unregistered children under 5 can be driven down to 64 million by 2050, and a more optimistic forecast based on accelerated progress is for 22 million unregistered children by the same year, almost all of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Uneven progress in South Asia

This is in part because of significant strides made by South Asian countries like India, Nepal and Bangladesh. UNICEF notes that further progress is needed by Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular, to achieve universal registration by 2030.

“A birth certificate is the foundation for legal identity. But it’s so much more than a document. It protects children’s rights and enables them to access essential services like healthcare, education and other social services,” notes Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF regional director for South Asia.

At a workshop held in late-December on Bangladesh’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system, an official from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) argued for health facilities to take on some birth registration services in order to improve their accessibility, The Business Standard reports. This approach is also highlighted in the UNICEF report.

Issues with revocation and duplication

Registration is only as valuable as it is accurate, however, and a regional office of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in Guwahati has raised concerns about the number of irregularities observed among birth certificates in Manipur state. Those irregularities include duplicate birth certificates, according to a letter from officials raising the alarm and reported by the Chronicle News Service.

Manipur does not have an official birth certificate cancellation procedure, the report says, unlike other Indian states. Repeated attempts to correct the data registered can also lead to birth certificates being flagged, or new data rejected.

The report alleges that in many cases, school authorities change the date of birth on children’s files.

The letter warns that the questionable birth certificate procedures could undermine the national digital ID, Aadhaar.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Asia  |  civil registration  |  CRVS  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  India  |  legal identity  |  UNICEF