15 that are difficult to meet for families who already lack proof of identity, residence, or civil status. In several jurisdictions, the process must be initiated through court proceedings, requiring knowledge of complex procedures and often prolonging the period during which children remain unregistered. The inability to access state-funded legal aid further limits the effectiveness of court procedures, particularly given the cuts to UNHCR and US foreign assistance funding and wider funding challenges faced by NGOs that provide free legal assistance to plug gaps in legal aid. Financial costs can also deter access to late registration: fees are often applied to initiate these proceedings, and, in some cases, financial penalties are imposed for failure to register within the deadline. These measures disproportionately affect communities already living in poverty, social marginalisation, and limited mobility. As a result, many children remain unregistered for extended periods, or indefinitely, without access to basic rights and at risk of statelessness. Given the significant barriers these children may encounter in accessing civil registration once they reach adulthood, ensuring effective and universal access to late registration remains one of the most urgent challenges across the Western Balkans. Despite these challenges, it is important to recognise that there have been significant improvements in birth registration systems and processes in the region in recent years. Some Beneficiaries have piloted positive measures such as interim civil registers, digitalised registration systems,20 simplified procedures for children born abroad, or automatic registration in specific cases, and legal frameworks have been improved to mandate birth registration where parents are unable or fail to do so. However, further attention and sustained political will is needed, including to ensure full implementation, monitoring and identification of more complex cases in need of assistance, and resourcing of Roma-led and other civil society organisation to support and improve trust and access to services among affected communities. Flexibility and accessibility could be improved in all Beneficiaries, ensuring that children’s best interests is a primary consideration, especially in cases where parents cannot meet documentation requirements. Gaps in measures to reduce (risk of) statelessness As noted above, there have been important efforts to reduce statelessness in the Western Balkans in recent years, reflecting a growing awareness of the importance of addressing this issue as part of broader human rights and social inclusion agendas. This progress is evident in a gradual reduction of known cases of statelessness reported in official data, which demonstrates that targeted interventions, especially those focusing on civil registration and documentation, can yield tangible results. Yet, while such progress is encouraging, it has largely focused on individuals already identified as stateless or at risk. To achieve the goal of ending statelessness, efforts must be extended to include those who remain unidentified, unregistered, or otherwise excluded from civil registration systems and citizenship. This requires a shift from a reactive case-by-case response to a proactive, systematic approach aimed at identifying, reducing, and preventing statelessness.212021 Positively, in several Beneficiaries, there have been noteworthy efforts to facilitate access to civil registration through streamlined and innovative routes. Public registration campaigns, mass registration initiatives, digitalisation, automation of processes, and outreach efforts led or supported by public authorities have played an important role in simplifying processes and raising awareness among populations at risk. There have been specific legal pathways to regularise and naturalise former Yugoslav citizens whose citizenship status remained unconfirmed, measures have also been introduced to simplify court procedures, facilitate registration of residence at social welfare centres to fulfil civil registration requirements, and to exempt specific affected communities from fees for subsequent registration. These measures demonstrate the positive impact that concrete action-planning, political will, and engagement with civil society and international 20 See further, OHCHR, Use of digital technologies to achieve universal birth registration, 25 April 2025, UN Doc A/HRC/59/61. 21 UNHCR, Good Practices Paper - Action 1: Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness, 16 August 2022, at: https://www.refworld. org/policy/opguidance/unhcr/2022/en/124144.