CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 Table 9: Birth registration rates in SADC states COUNTRY % BIRTH REGISTRATION CHILDREN <5 ANGOLA BOTSWANA COMOROS DRC ESWATINI LESOTHO MADAGASCAR MALAWI MAURITIUS BR BC SOURCE 25 13 DHS 2015-2016 87.5 - Demographic Survey 2017, Statistics Botswana 87 76 DHS 2012 25 14 DHS 2013-2014 54 37 MICS 2014 43 18 DHS 2014 78 15 MICS 2018 67 17 DHS 2015-16 100 - Registrar of Civil Status Division, Office of the Prime Minister252 MOZAMBIQUE NAMIBIA SEYCHELLES SOUTH AFRICA TANZANIA 55 38 AIS 2015 87 63 DHS 2013 - - No statistics available online 88.6 - StatsSA253 49 - Tanzania Registration Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency, 2019254 ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE 14 6 DHS 2018 44 33 DHS 2015 - No information available BR: birth registration reported BC: birth certificate held by family DHS: Demographic and Health Survey (available at https://dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/Country-List.cfm) AIS: AIDS Indicator Survey (available at https://dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/Country-List.cfm) MICS: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (available at http://mics.unicef.org/surveys) Consular registration If there is no right for a child of foreign parents to acquire the nationality of the state in which the child is born, then for statelessness to be avoided it is critical that the parents of the child have access to consular services. In several countries consular registration of a birth is a legal requirement for a child to acquire the nationality of a parent (see above: Children born outside the country), and it will very often be a practical necessity. It is often unclear what procedure will be followed to provide civil status documentation, including 252 Registrar of Civil Status Division, Office of the Prime Minister, Presentation at ID4Africa Conference, Johannesburg, June 2019 https://www.id4africa.com/2019_event/presentations/InF5/3-William-Ayelou-Mauritius.pdf 253 Section 2.2 in “Statistical release P0305: Recorded live births 2018”, Stats SA, September 2019 (completeness of birth registration, not restricted to under five years old) http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0305/P03052018.pdf. 254 “A brief note on the computation of the birth certification rate for under-five children in mainland Tanzania, 2019”, Registration Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency, available at https://www.rita.go.tz/files/news/Birth%20Certification%20Rate-Notes_FINAL%20VESION.pdf. The document does not clearly distinguish registration and certification. The rates reported in the DHS 2015-2016 were 26 percent registered, 14 percent issued birth certificates. UNHCR / December, 2020 67