Children’s rights must be at center of civil registration governance frameworks: UN Human Rights

For countries to make substantial progress on birth registration, there is the need to expedite the implementation of reforms and build civil registration systems that are non-discriminatory and which have children’s rights at their core.

This is among several recommendations made by UN Human Rights in a recent report.

The report, referenced in an OHCHR post, discusses global challenges stalling progress on birth registration and signals that countries must be five times faster than they currently are if they must meet the SDG 16.9 target of legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.

Per the report, countries must implement measures that encourage free birth registration, easy and flexible registration procedures, awareness and sensitization, inclusive participation of different stakeholders in the design and implementation of the systems, respect for human rights, data protection and privacy safeguard mechanisms.

These measures, the report states, will ensure that every child’s right is protected because the absence of birth registration is a barrier to enjoying other human rights in sectors such as education, healthcare and social protection. A birth certificate, seen as a foundational identity document, is considered a fundamental human right.

The report mentions some major obstacles that must be urgently tackled. It talks of gender-based discrimination as a major hindrance to birth registration as women in some cultures are barred from registering the birth of their children, as well as other administrative, structural and logistical challenges which are also preventing many countries from making progress in birth registration.

Digital technologies including biometrics are also recommended a key enabler of civil registration progress, but UN Human Rights believes they must be deployed in a rights-respecting manner if countries must make the most out of them.

Chief of the Child and Youth Rights Unit at UN Human Rights, Imma Guerras, is quoted as commenting that the recommendations contained in the report “set out a clear, rights-respecting pathway to achieving universal birth registration.”

She believes that “by implementing these recommendations, states have the potential to change the lives of children around the world and allow them to claim their rights and fulfil their full potential.”

A report released last year on the state of birth registration globally said there was progress but that efforts needed to be ramped up in order to change the birth registration story especially in Sub Saharan Africa which accounts for about 90 million unregistered children, more than half of which are in the East Africa region.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  birth registration  |  children  |  civil registration  |  digital identity  |  human rights  |  legal identity  |  United Nations