CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 2020 the 21st century, even though there had been strong progress in some countries.235 For those states covered by this report, the average rate is 58 percent birth registration for children under five; but the average conceals huge variation, from 100 percent registration claimed in Mauritius, to only 11 percent in Zambia (See Table 9). South Africa has the highest rates of registration on the continental mainland, after a major drive to improve registration rates led to an increase from less than 25% of under-fives in 1998 to 72% in 2005, and 95% by 2012.236 However, more than 10 percent of births are still registered late; while the overall rate of registration has been declining, estimated at just under 90 percent of all births in 2018.237 In Zimbabwe, the birth registration rate has declined more seriously: according to the Demographic and Health Surveys, 74 percent of children’s births were registered in 2005-06, but this dropped to 49 percent in 2010-11, and 44 percent in 2015.238 In Zambia only an average of 14 percent of children under five had been registered as of 2018 (the same level as 2007, despite the adoption of a strategic action plan) – and only six percent of children had a birth certificate.239 In DRC the birth registration rate is also declining, from an estimated 34 percent of children under five in 2001 to 25 percent in 2014.240 While there is progress in several countries, the existing low base and slow improvement means that rates remain low: in Tanzania birth registration of under-fives increased from 16% of children under five in 2010 to 26% in 2016, and 49 percent in 2019; in Mozambique birth registration rates increased from 36 percent in 2006 to 48 percent in 2011, where the estimate remained in 2017.241 But even where registration rates are improving, the number of children with a birth certificate often remains low, making it difficult to exercise in practice the rights theoretically ensured by registration. In Malawi, the reported rate of birth registration rose from a low base of less than ten percent in the early 2000s, to 58 percent of under-fives in 2013, and 67 percent in 2015, but it was still the case that only 17 percent of Malawian children had birth certificates.242 Many other countries report similar discrepancies. 235 UNICEF, “Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are We on Track?” (Geneva: United Nations, December 2019), https://data.unicef.org/resources/birth-registration-for-every-child-by-2030/. For birth registration statistics for individual countries, see the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) page on data for birth registration: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/birth-registration/. See also concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Rights for the relevant countries, available at http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf, in which concern at low birth registration rates is frequently expressed. 236 The coverage and quality of birth registration data in South Africa: 1998–2005, Report no. 06-03-01 (2007), Statistics South Africa, 2007; “Reaching the Hard to Reach: A Case Study of Birth Registration in South Africa”, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, 23 November 2016. 237 “P0305 - Recorded live births, 2018”, Statistics South Africa, 26 September 2019 http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=1854&PPN=P0305 238 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 2015, chapter 2.7 https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR322/FR322.pdf 239 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2018, chapter 2.4 & table 2.11 https://www.zamstats.gov.zm/index.php/publications/category/8demorgraphy?download=364:zambia-demographic-and-health-survey-2018; National Strategic Action Plan For Reforming And Improving Civil Registration And Vital Statistics: Implementation Period 2014 –2019, Zambia Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of National Registration, Passports and Citizenship http://www.crvs-dgb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Zambia-National-Strategic-Action-Plan-for-CRVS.pdf. 240 “Enquête nationale sur la situation des enfants et des femmes”, MICS Survey 2001, chapter 9.3 https://mics.unicef.org/surveys; Democratic Republic of Congo Demographic and Health Survey 2013-14 chapter 19.1.1 https://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR300/FR300.pdf. 241 UNICEF, “Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and Trends in Birth Registration” (Geneva: United Nations, December 2013). Figures for 2017 from latest UNICEF dataset on birth registration, available at https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/birth-registration/. 242 Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2013-2014, UNICEF, chapter XI, available at http://mics.unicef.org/surveys; Malawi Demographic and Health Survey 2015-16, chapter 2.7, and table 2.10.1 https://www.dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR319-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm. UNHCR / December, 2020 65