Provide forcibly displaced and stateless children with access to national birth registration systems without discrimination. For children born in the country, ensure birth notifications and certificates that are issued are equivalent to those issued to nationals, and that these births are registered in the national civil registration system. Avoid discriminatory practices such as only providing birth notifications, providing birth certificates that differ from those provided to nationals, or not registering the birth in the national civil registration system. Put in place an effective birth registration system that is accessible and responsive to the specific circumstances of forcibly displaced and stateless families. This could include: ✓ Supporting clear, streamlined procedures for birth notification inside and outside health facilities. ✓ Streamlining birth registration procedures such as integrating birth notification and birth certification procedures or ensuring that birth certificates are issued at decentralized birth registration locations. ✓ Establish specific procedures to guarantee the birth registration of forcibly displaced and stateless persons.44 Establish procedures for forcibly displaced and stateless persons (and others) without documentation to prove their identity through measures such as alternative forms of documentary evidence and witness statements. ✓ Registrars should be authorized to establish special procedures to reach forcibly displaced and stateless persons, as well as other marginalized groups. This may include establishing mobile birth registration, including with the financial or technical support of international organizations including UNHCR. ✓ Decentralizing and scaling up birth registration services in locations hosting forcibly displaced and for stateless persons. ✓ Allow registration at all birth registration locations without geographical limits – for instance, do not require IDPs to return to their original residence to register the births of their children, or require that refugees register their births in camps. ✓ Provide support to address the specific challenges facing forcibly displaced and 44 45 stateless persons, including supporting translation services and/or providing legal services to support families facing particular difficulties to register births. Establish flexible and affordable procedures for delayed and late registration, through which children and adults who were not registered at birth can be registered and obtain birth certificates. Exceptions or waivers for late fees should be available for those forcibly displaced and stateless persons (and others) who are unable to afford late fees. Timebound amnesties without fees and with simplified procedures may be implemented to address backlogs of late birth registrations. Plan, cost and invest in the scale-up of accessible birth registration services that benefit forcibly displaced, stateless and host communities. International community should provide budgetary support to authorities to address large-scale influx of refugees and IDPs, particularly in lowand middle-income countries, in the spirit of responsibility-sharing. For refugee and asylum-seeking children, establish procedures for registering the birth of children born in the country of origin, whose birth was not able to be registered and/or get a copy of the registration. Provide information to forcibly displaced and stateless communities on birth registration processes and implications. Engage these communities in identifying and addressing specific barriers and enablers to birth registration. Children whose births have not been registered and/or who lack birth certificates should be allowed to access basic services such as health and education, while waiting to be properly registered. Children should be not denied access to basic services and rights including school or health services due to the lack of a birth certificate. Alternative forms of documentation such as refugee certificates or witness statements should be put in place to allow children without birth certificates to access these services. Ensure personal data is processed in line with human rights principles, notably including confidentiality and privacy. Firewall birth registration data and processes from immigration enforcement procedures45 or other punitive measures, and ensure respect for data protection principles. Ibid. Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Joint general comment,” November 2017. Birth registration of forcibly displaced and stateless persons 27