In 2009, penalties were introduced in Tajikistan for parents who failed to meet the registration deadline.118 Tajikistan allows for refusal of birth registration, on grounds that must be given in writing.119 Late registration is not thought to be among the grounds for such refusal. Uzbekistan also allows for the refusal of birth registration, when the person applying to register it is not legally entitled to do so; is “mentally unsound”; or when registration of the birth as a civil act “would contravene the law.”120 District and city departments of health are responsible for ensuring timely registration of births in Uzbekistan.121 A 2006 survey carried out by UNICEF Turkmenistan found that 86% of children were registered before the age of twelve months. The percentage rose significantly as the children reached the age of five, and again, among sixteen-year olds applying to receive a passport. A UNICEF survey in Tajikistan in 2006 found that births of 88% of children under the age of one were registered. In Turkmenistan the introduction of the Social Welfare Code in 2007, which envisages the provision of child allowance up to the age of 3, improved birth registration significantly.122 To collect their payment from the Ministry of Social Welfare, parents must show the child’s birth certificate. Tajikistan has introduced child benefit vouchers that can be issued on request.123 It is not known if these have had the same effect. From 2000-2007, birth registration among under-fives in Kazakhstan was 99%, and 94% in Kyrgyzstan.124The proportion of births registered in Uzbekistan is not known.125 Regulations on registering births are internally inconsistent in parts and may also put a child at risk of statelessness.126 The 2002 Law of Turkmenistan on the Guarantees of the Rights of a Child requires the proper registration of a child’s birth, including the child of a person who is not a citizen of Turkmenistan.127 This is also required by the Civil Code. The hospital attests the fact of birth, but a mother can only register her baby’s birth and acquire a birth certificate for it, if she holds a valid passport. The registration rules of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan include procedures for parents, of whom at least one is stateless. Like parents who are nationals, they are required to produce certified documents confirming each fact that they wish to register.128 These include personal identification129 and their nationality status – something which may be particularly difficult for stateless persons and persons with undetermined nationality to produce. In addition, regulations in Turkmenistan require parents registering a birth, in addition, to produce a marriage certificate.130 This would seem to prevent the registration of any child born out of wedlock. These children may later have difficulty proving they are nationals of the State and be put at risk of statelessness. Any documents originating from abroad 118 Article 18(5) of the Law of Tajikistan ‘On State Registration of Civil Acts’ No 496, as amended in March 2009, introduced penalties but did not enumerate them. 119 Ibid, Article 13. 120 Article 7, Supplement No 1 to the 1999 Rules for Registration of Civil Acts in Uzbekistan, No 171. 121 Ibid, Article 12. 122 Information provided by UNFPA in an interview in Ashgabat. 123 Article 26, Tajik Law ‘On State Registration of Civil Acts’, as amended in March 2009, No 496. 124 UNICEF statistics on Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, available from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry. No statistics are available for this period on Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 125 UNDP reports only that in 2007, 1,602,000 people in Uzbekistan were 2 years old or younger, see ‘Uzbekistan in figures’ at www.undp.org/infobycountry. The crude birth rate fell by 2.7% between early 2005 and early 2006, according to UNFPA, but the proportion of total births registered over this period is not known, see UNFPA.org/news/coverage/2007. 126 The procedure is set down in the 2008 Regulation No 483 ‘On State Registration of Civil Acts’ in Tajikistan; in the 2004 Presidential Decree No 141 ‘On Registering Civil Acts’ in Turkmenistan; in the 2005 Civil Status Acts Law and the 2001 Civil Status Registration Rules in Kyrgyzstan; The Rules for Registration of Civil Acts in Uzbekistan No 171, April 1999; The Registration of Civil Status Acts in Kazakhstan, 1998. 127 Articles 7 and 22, 2002 Law of Turkmenistan on the Guarantee of the Rights of the Child. 128 Article 5(1), 2008 Regulation No 483 ‘On State Registration of Civil Acts’ in Tajikistan; Article 17, 2004 Presidential Decree No 141 ‘On Registering Civil Acts’ in Turkmenistan. 129 Ibid. 130 Article 17, 2004 Presidential Decree No 141 ‘On Registering Civil Acts’ in Turkmenistan. ~ 21 ~