A person from Mindanao in the south of the Philippines receives a birth certificate during a ceremony organised by UNHCR, UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Services and Development. © UNHCR/Yam Palma In the Philippines, a ceremony to distribute birth certificates to more than 600 unregistered children took place on 22 March. The children were at risk of statelessness due to being forcibly displaced and living in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in Mindanao, in the south of the Philippines. The ceremony was organized by UNHCR, UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Services and Development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and local government units of Upi and South Upi in Maguindanao. At the event, UNHCR also handed over equipment to support the digitization processes of the Local Civil Registrar’s Offices of both municipalities. The government of Kazakhstan made a significant change to the Order of the Minister of Health in November 2022, allowing medical facilities to issue birth certificates that include a “note” acknowledging the mother’s identity based on her own statement. This step was taken to implement an amendment to the Code on Marriage and Family, which mandates that all children born in medical facilities must be registered at birth, regardless of their parents’ legal status. With this step, the Government fulfills one of its pledges. In Ukraine, as of February, 125 individuals born in the newly occupied regions in 2022 have benefited from a new procedure allowing for distant birth registration which was established by the Ministry of Justice Order n. 3734/5 in September 2022. In Yemen, UNHCR and the Civil Status and Civil Registry Authority in Sana’a (CRA) are working together to implement a joint action plan to improve access to civil status documentation. The action plan aims to 1) ensure timely access to birth registration for refugee and asylum-seeking children, 2) raise awareness of the importance of birth registration among internally displaced persons, 3) build the capacity of personnel of the CRA, and 4) map administrative obstacles linked to the provision of civil documentation for displaced persons. Moreover, UNHCR provided legal assistance to displaced families in Yemen to ensure that their children’s births are properly registered. Thanks to this effort, 180 children had their births registered. This activity was carried out in close collaboration with the Civil Status and Civil Registry Authority. Action 8: Issue nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it In Iraq, UNHCR and its partner the Legal Clinic Network provided legal assistance to stateless Faili Kurds and Bidoons who were identified through a statelessness study in the central and southern provinces of Iraq in the last quarter of 2022. As a result, 160 persons had their Iraqi nationality confirmed. UNHCR > The Campaign to End Statelessness | January – March 2023 Update 5