or the status of their parents, has been reaffirmed. On this basis, there has been renewed effort to facilitate the implementation of this crucial principle, including through the establishment of procedures to allow children born in the refugee camps along the Thai border to be registered at birth.108 Meanwhile, in Viet Nam, the 2004 Law on the Protection, Care and Education of Children and the 2005 Civil Code also provide that every child has the right to be registered. Among the changes brought in was the standardisation of birth registration for all ethnic groups, while protecting the practice of specific ethnic groups with regard to the name of the child.109 Changes to the law in the Philippines addressed another sociological obstacle to birth registration. The reform sought to “minimise exclusion and stigmatization of children born out of wedlock by allowing children born to register using the name of the father, regardless of the parents’ marital status”.110 Indonesia outlined its own commitment to universal birth registration in its 2002 Law on Child Protection and reaffirmed this commitment in the 2006 Law on Population Administration. However, in 2008, Indonesia was still considered to rank among the bottom 20 countries in the world in terms of birth registration coverage. This situation led the Ministry of Home Affairs to adopt the “National Strategy on Birth Registration: All children are registered by 2011”.111 The strategy aims to translate Indonesia’s domestic and international legal commitment to birth registration into a successful policy of universal birth registration on the ground. Similar efforts to put the law into practice using a wide variety of techniques can be seen throughout the region. Lessons from Cambodia’s campaign for universal birth registration In 2000, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that many births were going unrecorded in the country. In fact, at that time, only approximately 5% of the Cambodian population was registered. A pilot project was then carried out by the Ministry of Interior to test the ground for mass mobile registration. With continuing support from Plan and UNICEF, the campaign was subsequently rolled out nationwide. 1600 registration teams – some 13,000 people, many of whom volunteers, were trained. Thanks to this huge push, more than 7 million adults and children were registered during just the first 10 months of the national programme. Today, the Asian Development Bank estimates that over 90% of the Cambodian population is registered. Numerous factors contributed to the success of this campaign. Guidelines were adopted and the law was subsequently reformed such that birth certificates could be issued free of charge throughout the campaign and thereafter no fee would be levied for birth registration within 30 days from birth. Only a nominal fine is incurred for the “late” registration of a birth beyond this time limit. Awareness raising was another main focus, using tools such as television and radio broadcasts, information posters and leaflets, a Civil Registration Awareness Bus that visited dozens of communities and the celebration of Universal Children’s Day with a large children’s fair centred around the importance of birth registration. The campaign invested in broad partnerships, getting local people involved in spreading the word and building trust – including teachers, monks and community leaders. This allowed fears surrounding the misuse of personal information and documentation, stemming from the era of the Pol Pot regime, to be overcome. Children were also invited to help design and implement parts of the campaign, further increasing the effectiveness of awareness raising activities. Another major focus throughout, was building the capacity of government officials to take charge of the registration process, for instance by ensuring a steady 108 Correspondence with UNHCR Thailand, October 2010. The new law also carefully details birth registration procedures for foundlings – although they have no automatic entitlement to Thai nationality under the law. Section 14 of Thailand’s Civil Registration Act (No.2), B.E. 2551, 15 February 2008 – amending Civil Registration Act B.E. 2534; Section 12/1 (2) of Thailand’s Nationality Act, B.E. 2508, as amended. 109 “Birth Registration in Vietnam” presented at the 4th Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference on Birth Registration, March 2006. 110 “UNICEF, Record, recognise, respect – Report of the 4th Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference on Birth Registration, March 2006. 111 UNICEF welcomes National Strategy on registration of all children in Indonesia by 2011, UNICEF Media Release, 18 December 2008. 16