Every Child's Birth Right: Inequities and Trends in Birth Registration
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EVERY CHILD’S BIRTH RIGHT Inequities and trends in birth registration Cover photo: Meluca Guimaraoes holds Natan (her second child), his newly issued birth certificate and his health card, at Puzuzu Primary School in Maganja da Costa District in Zambézia Province, Mozambique. Community birth registration activities are being held at the school. UNICEF supports routine and accelerated birth registration activities, including mobile outreach services and community mobilization to raise awareness on the importance of registering children. © UNICEF/NYHQ2007-2287/Roger LeMoyne © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Data and Analytics Section, Division of Policy and Strategy, December 2013. Permission is required to reproduce any part of this publication. Permission will be freely granted to educational or non-profit organizations. To request permission and for any other information on the publication, please contact: UNICEF Data and Analytics Section Division of Policy and Strategy 3 United Nations Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1 (212) 326-7000 Email: [email protected] All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify the information contained in this publication. For any data updates subsequent to printing, please visit <www.childinfo.org>. Suggested citation: United Nations Children’s Fund, Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013. EVERY CHILD’S BIRTH RIGHT Inequities and trends in birth registration Acknowledgements This report was produced at UNICEF headquarters by the Data (UNICEF Lao PDR), Abir Abi Khalil (UNICEF Lebanon), Milen and Analytics Section (formerly the Statistics and Monitoring Kidane (UNICEF Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Section), Division of Policy and Strategy. The report was Africa), Rinko Kinoshita (UNICEF Nicaragua), Guillaume Kobehi- prepared by Claudia Cappa, under the direction of Tessa Toutou (UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire), George Laryea-Adjei (UNICEF Wardlaw. Ivana Bjelic and Yadigar Coskun provided support South Africa), Jean Lieby (UNICEF Senegal), Daniela Luciani with data processing and tabulations. Colleen Murray and (UNICEF Senegal), Birgithe Lund-Henriksen (UNICEF Tanzania), Nicole Petrowski facilitated the preparation of the statistical Anthony MacDonald (UNICEF Lebanon), Amanda Martin table and figures, participated in the review and helped fact- (UNICEF Peru), Ana Cristina Matos (UNICEF Brazil), Mariia check the document. Nicole Petrowski also assisted in the Matsepa (UNICEF Ukraine), Cecilie Modvar (UNICEF Regional report’s production. Office for Latin America and the Caribbean), Innocent Kasongo Mofya (UNICEF Zambia), Soraya Abu Monassar Valuable ideas and inputs were provided by Settasak (UNICEF Yemen), Mwajuma Kitoi Msangi (UNICEF Tanzania), Akanimart (UNICEF Bangladesh), Gbemisola Akinboyo (UNICEF Sudha Murali (UNICEF Uganda), Kerry Neal (Child Protection Eritrea), Serge Akpaka (UNICEF Benin), Hanadi Alrajab (UNICEF Section, UNICEF headquarters), Christopher Ngwerume (UNICEF Oman), Izdihar AlSuleimany (UNICEF Oman), Sayo Aoki (UNICEF Liberia), Blandine Moundzengou Ondzaghe (UNICEF Gabon, Dominican Republic), Elena Atanassova (UNICEF Bulgaria), Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea), Andrés Osorio Laetitia Bazzi-Veil (UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire), Hawi Bedasa (UNICEF (UNICEF Paraguay), Rose Anne Papavero (UNICEF Bangladesh), Tanzania), Patrizia Benvenuti (UNICEF South Africa), Chris Micaela Pasini (UNICEF Yemen), Silvia Pasti (UNICEF Uganda), Braeuel (VSO Tanzania), Andrew Brooks (UNICEF Regional Virginia Perez (UNICEF Nepal), Nadine Perrault (UNICEF Office for West and Central Africa), Laurent Chapuis (UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean), Silvia Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa), Tatjana Placid (UNICEF Oman), Vijaya Ratnam Raman (UNICEF Viet Colin (UNICEF Liberia), Paula Monina G. Collado (National Nam), Paula Ramirez-Espana (UNICEF Mexico), Ana Maria Statistics Office of the Philippines), Edina Culolo-Kozma Restrepo (UNICEF Argentina), Jucilene Rocha (UNICEF Brazil), (UNICEF Angola), Matthew Dalling (UNICEF Sierra Leone), Marijana Salinovic (UNICEF Croatia), Ana Lucia Silva (UNICEF Asefa Tolessa Dano (UNICEF Papua New Guinea), Christina de Nicaragua), Diane Swales (UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia Bruin (UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire), Meryem Demirci (United Nations and the Pacific), Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong (UNICEF Viet Nam), Statistics Division), Thakur Dhakal (UNICEF Nepal), Kirsten Di Cecilia Torres (UNICEF Venezuela), Fatma Uluc (UNICEF Turkey), Martino (UNICEF Lao PDR), Astrid Gonzaga Dionisio (UNICEF Lucia Vernazza (UNICEF Uruguay), Sebastian Waisgrais (UNICEF Indonesia), Zodwa Dlamini-Mthethwa (UNICEF South Africa), Argentina), Brian Wall (UNICEF Yemen), Dorji Wangdi (UNICEF Valentina Dogonova (UNICEF Belarus), Jose Ramon Espinoza Bhutan), Augustine Wassago (UNICEF Uganda), Cornelius (UNICEF Nicaragua), Pilar Gonzalez (UNICEF Uzbekistan), Williams (UNICEF Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Aaron Greenberg (UNICEF Myanmar), Kendra Gregson (Child Africa), Fang Yan (UNICEF China) and Danzhen You (Data and Protection Section, UNICEF headquarters), Attila Hancıo˘glu Analytics Section, UNICEF headquarters). (Data and Analytics Section, UNICEF headquarters), Rachel Harvey (UNICEF Tanzania), Petra Hoelscher (UNICEF Namibia), The report was edited by Lois Jensen, copy-edited by Gordana Horvat (UNICEF Croatia), Lara Hussein (UNICEF Gulf Pamela Knight, and designed by Big Yellow Taxi, Inc. Area), Salifu Jarsey (UNICEF Gambia), Charles-Martin Jjuuko (UNICEF Uganda), Catherine Jones (UNICEF Lebanon), Yves Olivier Kassoka (UNICEF Senegal), Khamhoung Keovilay Contents A passport to protection 06 01 Counting every child 09 02 Where we stand today 14 03 The children left behind 22 04 Progress and prospects 30 05 Key findings and implications for programming 36 06 References 39 Statistical table 40 Birth registration is the CONTINUOUS, PERMANENT and UNIVERSAL recording, within the civil registry, of the occurrence and characteristics of births in accordance with the legal requirements of a country. © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-2487/Asselin A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. In some cases, the issuance of a birth certificate automatically follows birth registration, although in others a separate application must be made. ISSUANCE REGISTRATION DECLARATION OF BIRTH OF BIRTH OF BIRTH BY CERTIFICATE BY CIVIL INFORMANT BY CIVIL REGISTRAR REGISTRAR NOTIFICATION OF BIRTH (BY HOSPITAL, MIDWIFE, VILLAGE CHIEF) The notification of a birth is made by an individual or institution to the registrar of vital events in a country. The notification role is usually played by health institutions and birth attendants, and in a limited number of cases by a local government official, such as a village chief. The notification report has no value other than as a control, and it cannot be turned into a legal registration record. Sources: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2, Series M/19/Rev.2, Statistics Division, United Nations, New York, 2001; United Nations Children’s Fund, A Passport to Protection: A guide to birth registration programming, UNICEF, New York, 2013. 01. A passport to protection © UNICEF/ZAMA2011-0045/Nesbitt name and nationality is every child’s right, their recognition before the law, safeguarding their enshrined in the Convention on the Rights rights, and ensuring that any violation of these rights of the Child and other international treaties. does not go unnoticed.1 Nevertheless, the births of nearly 230 mil- Alion children under the age of five have never been Birth registration also serves a statistical purpose.2 registered. This lack of formal recognition by the Universal birth registration is an essential part of a State usually means that a child is unable to obtain system of vital statistics, which tracks the major mile- a birth certificate. As a result, he or she may be de- stones in a person’s life – from birth to marriage and nied health care or education. Later in life, the lack death. Such data are essential for planning and im- of official identification documents can mean that plementing development policies and programmes, a child may enter into marriage or the labour mar- particularly in health, education, housing, water and ket, or be conscripted into the armed forces, before sanitation, employment, agriculture and industrial the legal age. If accused of a crime, unregistered production. In 2002, the General Assembly resolu- children may be prosecuted as adults, due to their tion ‘A World Fit for Children’ reaffirmed governments’ inability to prove their age. In adulthood, birth cer- commitment to ensure the registration of all children tificates may be required to obtain social assistance at birth and to invest in, care for, educate and protect or a job in the formal sector, to buy or prove the right them from harm and exploitation. To achieve these to inherit property, to vote and to obtain a passport. goals, governments must have accurate data from Registering children at birth is the first step in securing which they can plan. Birth registration is not only a 6 fundamental right in itself but also a key to ensuring estimates (at both the global and regional levels) on the fulfilment of other rights. birth registration. The report draws information from more than 300 data sources over a 20-year period. It Most countries have mechanisms in