UNHCR in action: Examples from the field SYRIA REFUGEE AND IDP RESPONSE IMPLEMENTING FLEXIBLE PROCEDURES During the early years of the Syrian refugee crisis, many Syrian children born in major hosting countries lacked any form of birth documents, meaning that they had neither a birth notification nor a birth certificate (in 2012, this was 35 per cent of refugee children).34 Through multistakeholder cooperation and the introduction of simplified procedures, mobile missions by civil registration authorities, the establishment of civil registries in strategic locations, the waiver of fees and evidentiary requirements, legal aid and counselling, engagement with communities, and improved access to quality maternal services, this gap has significantly decreased (to 1–5 per cent in recent years). While progress is made in all countries, completing the full birth registration process remains a challenge in some countries. For instance, in Lebanon in 2023, birth notification rates were 96 per cent, but only 41 per cent of refugees had birth certificates that were registered in the civil registry.35 Nonetheless, this steady process in access to birth registration for Syrian refugees in the region has enhanced access to public services and has also addressed risks of statelessness by documenting children’s legal identity, and therefore making it more likely they will be able to confirm/acquire their Syrian nationality in the future. Within Syria, the authorities have issued legislative decrees on a regular basis, starting from 2019, to waive fines imposed on delayed registration of personal status events, including birth. As an example, in 2022, Legislative Decree 24/2022 was issued to waive penalties related to certain 34 35 36 misdemeanors and offences, but it did not waive financial fines. However, through UNHCR’s advocacy, a Ministry of Interior circular was issued to include a waiver for fines for late registration of civil status events to the legislative decree. As a result, 673,545 delayed events/documents, including 285,113 birth events, were registered/ issued free of fines during the grace period of nine months, according to the Directorate of Civil Affairs in 2023. RWANDA INTEGRATION WITH THE HEALTH SYSTEM In 2020, the Rwandan authorities passed a new family law to reform the civil registration system and allow birth registration to occur at health centres and the lowest level of local government (called “cells”), and linking the civil registration system to the national population registry and health management system.36 This streamlined digital system allows immediate birth registration at health facilities or at home, and a child to be issued with a unique digital identifier upon birth. The birth certificate/record issuance takes place through Irembo, the Government’s digital payment gateway and applies to nationals, foreigners and refugees alike. In 2022, the national population and housing census found that 94.3 per cent of children (aged 0–17 years old) had their births registered, and that there was a similar rate of registration (93.8 per cent) in the districts hosting the five refugee camps, and three urban locations. Despite the overall high rate of birth registration, in early 2023, a backlog of late birth registration/ certification of approximately 15,000 individuals UNHCR, “In search of solutions: Addressing statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa” (Geneva, UNHCR, 2016). https:// www.refworld.org/reference/regionalreport/unhcr/2016/en/32226. UNHCR, UNICEF and World Food Programme, “VASyR 2023: Vulnerability assessment of Syrian refugees in Lebanon” (Beirut, UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP, 2024). https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/vasyr-2023-vulnerability-assessment-syrian-refugeeslebanon. Lily Carlisle, “Birth registration prevents risks of statelessness in Rwanda”, UNHCR, 28 September 2023. https://www.unhcr.org/ rw/news/birth-registration-prevents-risk-statelessness-rwanda (accessed 19 December 2024). Birth registration of forcibly displaced and stateless persons 21