Roma child holding information leaflet on birth and citizenship registration”, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 Nov 2015. © UNHCR/Midhat Poturovic 2.2 UNHCR’s engagement on birth registration UNHCR’s engagement in birth registration is in relation to the prevention and reduction of statelessness and the protection of persons of concern.25 As part of its statelessness mandate, UNHCR works with stateless populations and populations at risk of statelessness who, in the absence of birth registration, may be prevented from establishing a legal identity and proving their claim to a nationality.26 Birth registration is also part of UNHCR’s protection mandate because it provides children of concern, including stateless children, access to rights and services and age-appropriate legal protection, protects them against violence and abuse, and prevents family separation in emergencies.27 The achievement of universal and accessible birth registration depends on the civil registration laws and regulations in place and the quality of civil registration systems. The latter may not function well where countries lack sufficient resources to prioritize their improvement or where civil registries have been destroyed or compromised during conflicts. In such circumstances, UNHCR and its partners assist Governments to develop systems that meet international standards in law and in practice. UNHCR’s efforts to secure birth registration in order to prevent and reduce statelessness focus mainly on interventions that: (1) reform civil registration laws and practices; (2) improve civil registration systems; (3) raise awareness; and (4) work through partnerships to achieve registration of vulnerable individuals and groups. 25 Work on universal birth registration at a general level is beyond UNHCR’s mandate. 26 UNHCR, Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons No. 106 (LVII) (6 October 2006), at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/453497302.html. 27 UNHCR, A Framework for the Protection of Children (26 June 2012), at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4fe875682.html; UNHCR, Child protection Issue Brief: Birth Registration (August 2013), at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/523fe9214.html; OHCHR, Birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, A/HCR/27/22, 2014, at: http://goo.gl/eFJBjc; OHCHR, Strengthening policies and programmes for universal birth registration and vital statistics development, A/HRC/33/22, 2016, at: http://goo.gl/K8DXUx; Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment No. 17: Article 24 (Rights of the Child), 7 April 1989, at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/45139b464.html. 6 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS