was identified. UNHCR Rwanda, jointly with local government and legal partner Prison Fellowship, worked to clear this backlog by supporting the authorities to issue birth certificates for those identified as never having had their birth registered or certified. As a result, the birth registration rate for refugees was increased to 99.6 per cent for children aged under 5 and 96 per cent for all ages by mid-2024. The streamlining and digitalization of the process makes the birth registration process efficient and accessible and allows quick insurance of replacement birth certificates. SOUTH AFRICA PARTNERSHIP FOR BIRTH REGISTRATION REFORM THAT BENEFITS EVERYONE In South Africa, UNHCR and UNICEF co-chair a quarterly task force on birth registration which focuses on barriers to birth registration due to documentation for both foreign nationals, including refugees, as well as nationals. The task force coordinates advocacy, campaigns and judicial engagement among key United Nations and civil society birth registration actors in South Africa. In June 2024, in Limpopo Province, one of seven provinces in the country and a border province, UNHCR began to roll out the Get Ready Birth Registration programme (GRBR) for key populations, including refugees, asylum-seekers, those in mixed status marriages and South African nationals. This project is a partnership between UNHCR, Future Families and the Scalabrini Centre, which ran the first successful pilot for GRBR in Western Cape Province in 2023. The project builds awareness in hospitals, health centres, refugee reception offices and community centres on the processes for birth registration among expectant parents, including how to navigate complex documentation requirements for undocumented or partially documented persons. PHILLIPINES LEGAL IDENTITY FOR CHILDREN OF UNKNOWN PARENTS Providing birth certificates to children of unknown parentage – also known as foundlings – is an essential part of ensuring that they have a legal identity and preventing statelessness. In 2022, the 37 22 Philippines adopted the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act to ensure that all foundlings in the country are systematically issued with official birth certificates. Prior to this law, foundlings were issued with “foundling certificates” and were not able to access birth certificates. While foundlings discovered in the territory of the Philippines have, in principle, been entitled to Philippine nationality since 2016, without birth certificates it had been impossible for foundlings to access this right to nationality. In addition, the lack of birth certificates resulted in them being discriminated against and being unable to access a range of opportunities, such as education or sports, and in many cases being unable to access other forms of documentation as an adult, such as a driver’s license or a passport. To address this issue, the Government of the Philippines, with the support of UNHCR and other partners, developed the Foundling Bill. During the process, UNHCR submitted legal recommendations for the new bill, and facilitated consultations with children and adults of unknown parentage. UNHCR also advocated for the issuance of birth certificates to foundlings, which resulted in the issuance of a government circular in 2021 to issue birth certificates to foundlings. EUROPE AUTHORITIES EFFORTS TO LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND In Europe, national authorities have undertaken key steps to streamline and make birth registration processes more efficient, which benefits refugees and contributes to the prevention of statelessness. In 2020, a mapping of birth registration practices in Europe by the European Network on Statelessness identified a range of good practices and remaining barriers in a rage of countries.37 Some of the good practices are outlined below: 1. All children are issued a birth certificate upon registration, without any further action being required by the child or the parents (in Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland). 2. A free certificate is provided either digitally or on paper to all children after registration (in Portugal). European Network on Statelessness, “Birth registration and the prevention of statelessness in Europe: Identifying good practices and remaining barriers”, Statelessness Index Thematic Briefing (London, European Network on Statelessness, 2020). https://index.statelessness.eu/sites/default/files/ENS-Birth_registrations-StatelessnessINDEX_briefing.pdf. Birth registration of forcibly displaced and stateless persons