To achieve the objective of Action 7, UNHCR and UNICEF have launched the Coalition on Every Child's Right to a Nationality. 11 The coalition seeks to combat the hidden problem of childhood statelessness, often linked to the lack of birth registration, and to raise awareness of this issue— the Coalition Every Child's Right to a Nationality needs to be strengthened in Southern Africa. UNHCR has therefore developed a new regional strategy on birth registration and statelessness aligned to SADC's new statelessness strategy was endorsed by the SADC member states in July 2022. The regional strategy on birth registration and statelessness is based on the findings of this study. In recent years, progress in birth registration programming has been recorded in many countries worldwide, including countries in Southern Africa. This study found that CRVS enhancement initiatives are ongoing in most SADC member states. Some countries in Southern Africa have been highlighted as demonstrating exemplary practices and can show remarkable results, including Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Namibia. 12 However, this study also found that despite many good efforts and rising birth registration rates in Southern Africa, some states still display concerning practices and systematically deny some children access to birth registration, while many other countries seemingly still fail to register the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, creating significant risks of statelessness amongst these population groups. 2. SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY This report focuses on the nexus between birth registration, citizenship and statelessness in the 16 member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The intention is to take stock of the status and performance of the 16 SADC member states' 13 birth registration systems by analysing legislation governing birth registration against a selected set of benchmarks, considering fundamental legal safeguards for preventing statelessness in civil 11 See UNHCR, Coalition on Every Child’s Right to a Nationality, https://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/unicef-unhcr-coalition-child-right-nationality/. Djokovic, Zoran, Maintaining civil registration resilience amid the COVID-19 crisis: Mozambique’s vital events notification system, IDRC, 2021 https://crvssystems.ca/sites/default/files/assets/images/CRVS_Webinar_Mozambique_e_WEB.pdf 12 Forsingdal, Anette Bayer and Tulimeke Munyika, Technical Brief: Building resilient civil registration and vital statistics systems amid COVID-19: Namibia as a good practice, IDRC, 2021https://crvssystems.ca/sites/default/files/assets/images/CRVS_Webinar_Namibia_e_WEB.pdf UNICEF Synthesis Report: Review of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Innovations in Eastern and Southern Africa: Digitalization, Processes and Strategies, 2020 https://www.unicef.org/esa/media/6571/file/Review%20of%20Civil%20Registration%20and%20Vital%20St atistics%20Innovations%20in%20Eastern%20and%20Southern%20Africa.pdf Video: Linking civil registration and identity management system in Botswana, 2017 https://crvssystems.ca/linking-civil-registration-and-id-management-botswana It takes an Electronic Village: Improving CRVS in Malawi, Vital Stories, 2016 https://www.vitalstrategies.org/ittakes-an-electronic-village-improving-crvs-in-malawi/ 13 Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ESwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe 4