Good practices in access to universal birth registration for the prevention of childhood statelessness The impact of good practices in birth registration In 2023 and 2024, civil society organizations reported that unregistered people were regularly applying for registration/regularization under the new measures. The Government is in the process of implementing measures to document the remaining individuals with unregulated status and grant them identity documents and routes to confirmation or acquisition of nationality. The effectiveness of these solutions will depend on their continuous and comprehensive implementation in practice. As a result of the 2021 amendments to the Law on Citizenship to address the ex-Yugoslavia caseload, by June 2025, 317 people had been granted citizenship and ID cards. In addition, 602 people whose births were not registered had resolved their status through the amended legislation. This means that, in total, 764 of the 919 known people at risk of statelessness acquired their first ID card in North Macedonia through the resolution of their cases in 2023 or 2024. Portugal Population overview UNHCR’s 2018 mapping study of statelessness in Portugal identified several causes of statelessness and people’s lack of identity and nationality documentation. The main population groups at risk of statelessness include individuals from former Portuguese colonies, such as Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, as well as their descendants. Additionally, children born in Portugal to foreign parents, particularly those from countries with complex nationality laws, are also identified as being at-risk.165 Portugal’s 2011 census recorded 553 stateless people (284 men, 269 women, all adults).166 In 2024 or 2025, the available data recorded 31 stateless people.167 Birth registration to help prevent statelessness Birth registration is mandatory under the Civil Registration Code. The Government operates a programme called Nascer Cidadão (“Born a Citizen”), a joint action of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Security and the Ministry of Health. Birth registration is facilitated, including for parents who cannot prove their identity or if the deadline for birth registration is missed. Parents who do not have identification documents 165 Mapping Statelessness in Portugal, UNHCR, October 2018, Section 4.1. 166 Statistics Portugal (INE), Census 2011. Data on resident population by place of residence, sex, age group and nationality. 167 UNHCR’s Refugee Data Finder. 62