1. Introduction
Birth registration is a fundamental right and an enabler of other
rights as it bestows a legal identity1 on children for life. If a child is
not registered, they do not officially exist and are vulnerable to
violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Without birth registration, a child may not be able to go to school, receive medical
treatment or benefit from social services. The absence of registration can also lead to
statelessness.2 Yet, despite its importance, the births of millions of children around the
world are not registered.3 A multitude of factors can impede birth registration,
including parents’ lack of knowledge of its importance, financial considerations and
practical barriers to accessing birth registration facilities.4 Beyond these factors,
discrimination impeding women’s ability to register the birth of children is also a critical
barrier. Such sex discrimination may be codified in national legislation and regulations,
or may relate to practices based on cultural norms.
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According to the UN operational definition : “Legal identity is defined as the basic characteristics of an
individual’s identity. e.g. name, sex, place and date of birth conferred through registration and the
issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil registration authority following the occurrence of birth.
In the absence of birth registration, legal identity may be conferred by a legally-recognized
identification authority.” See https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/51st-session/documents/2020-15CRVS-E.pdf
A stateless person is someone who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation if
its law, Article 1, 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
As at May 2021, UNICEF estimates that 166 million children under the age of 5, or 1 in 4 children,
remain unregistered. See https://data.unicef.org/resources/birth-registration-for-every-child-by-2030/
UNICEF, Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track? pg. 25: See https://data.unicef.
org/resources/birth-registration-for-every-child-by-2030/
B AC KG R O U N D N O T E O N S E X D I S C R I M I N AT I O N I N B I R T H R E G I S T R AT I O N
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