35. Lack of access to the right to a nationality results in a range of human rights violations impacting children. These include the denial of the right to a nationality and resultant statelessness over generations (Art. 7 CRC); lack of access to public education (Art. 28 CRC), healthcare (Art. 24 CRC) and other services. Subsequently, such restrictions violate the Guiding Principles of the CRC as set out in Article 2 (non-discrimination), Article 3 (best interests of the child), Article 6 (child’s development) and Article 12 (the right to be heard). 36. Regarding access to education specifically, it is now a requirement for all children to have a birth certificate to enter the first grade. Children are also required to present their national identity number in order to sit exams. In the absence of these documents, children encounter difficulties in school enrolment or in registering for and sitting their final exams. Pending the issuance of these documents, many children spend time out of school in violation of Article 28 and Article 6 CRC. 37. Birth registration is fundamental to the protection of children and prevention of statelessness. As birth registration legally establishes the place of birth, proof of age, and parental affiliation, it serves as an important documentary proof to acquire the parents' nationality or the nationality of the State in which the child is born. Birth registration can also be a pre-requisite to access other human rights. 38. While the denial of birth registration does not always amount to statelessness, there is a crucial link between birth registration and statelessness, with birth registration operating as a key form of proof of the link between the individual and the State. Lack of birth registration greatly increases the risk of statelessness, especially among populations whose belonging is under question by the state. Impoverished and vulnerable groups may face particular barriers in to birth certificates due to a registration system that is perceived as onerous and costly. 39. Although there have been efforts undertaken to improve the rate of birth registration, the levels of birth registration remain low, a concern noted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee recommended continuing to facilitate access to birth registration, including by making it free of charge and introducing mobile units, especially in rural areas, and to actively register children who have thus far not been registered. 15 In this respect, the Human Rights Committee also recommended conducting public awareness campaigns on the importance of birth registration.16 40. The State has made it mandatory that every child is registered at birth through providing these services at hospitals and major clinics. However, some children are born in smaller clinics or at home and have no access to these services. Another challenge is that although children may be registered at birth, parents may not be able – for various reasons – to follow up on the registration and trigger the issuance of birth certificates for their children. Birth certificates are not issued at birth, but have to be processed at the Birth, Marriage and Death Registration Department. 15 CRC, ‘Concluding observations: Swaziland’ CRC/C/SWZ/CO/1 (16 October 2006), para. 27. UN Human Rights Committee, ‘Concluding Observations on Swaziland in the absence of a report’ CCPR/C/SWZ/CO/1 (23 August 2017), para 49. 16 8