Briefing note to the CRC Committee on the child’s right to identity: birth registration, name, nationality, and family relations Background The child’s right to identity – including birth registration, name, nationality, and family relations under Articles 7-8 CRC – is a stand-alone right. The right to have one’s birth registered and acquire a nationality are also stand-alone rights. The lack of formally recognized and documented identity - a legal identity (SDG 16.9) - prevents children from accessing basic rights such as education, health, development, and social services. Children who lack an identity are also at greater risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Articles 7 and 8 are likewise closely linked with the achievement of other rights such as Article 9 (ensuring that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents), Article 10 (family reunification and the right to maintain direct contact with parents residing in different states) and Article 20 (ensuring a child deprived of a family environment is afforded alternative family care which aligns with his or her ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background). Knowing one’s origins and identity - name, nationality and family relations - is equally part of the physical, psychological, cultural, spiritual and developmental needs of a child (Article 6 CRC). Protecting a child’s right to identity is fundamental to their best interests, because “the feeling of being wanted and valued is the basis for a healthy emotional life. Such feelings are rooted in family relations and broaden as a person matures into increasingly larger circles that encompass relatives, peers, the community and society. The need to feel valued grows into a need to belong to social groups and have a place in society. Continuity of contact with external surroundings, including people and places, has an extremely important psychological effect on the child’s development ”.1 Among the groups that are especially vulnerable to violations of their identity rights are children who migrate, children belonging to minority or nomadic communities, children affected by armed conflict, children in street situations, children born through assisted reproductive technology, child brides, unaccompanied and separated children, and children in alternative care and adoption. Right to identity: birth registration, name, nationality, and family relations Birth registration and name: UNICEF notes that “society first acknowledges a child’s existence and identity through birth registration. The right to be recognized as a person before the law is a critical step in ensuring lifelong protection and is a prerequisite for exercising all other rights.”2 A birth certificate documents the facts of a child’s birth – such as date, place of birth, family relations and name. Information included in birth certificates concerning the place of birth and parentage in turn assist children to confirm or acquire nationality. Despite the right to birth registration, an estimated 237 million children under the age of five do not have a birth certificate, including an estimated 166 million children who are not registered.3 Poverty4 and discrimination5 are among the main obstacles to accessing birth registration. COVID -19 severely disrupted the availability of Civil Registration (CR) systems. In 2020, the number of children under five registered and certified declined by 2% and 22%, respectively, compared to 2019. However, in 2021, countries showed signs of recovery with the 1 2 UNHCR (2021) Best interests procedures guidelines: Assessing and determining the best interests of the child. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5c18d7254.pdf UNICEF. (2019). Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track? UNICEF. https://data.unicef.org/resources/birth-registration-for-every-child-by2030/ 3 Supra footnote 2. 4 Loc. Cit. 5 Loc. Cit. See also UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2021, July). UNHCR and UNICEF: Background Note on Sex Discrimination in Birth Registration. https://www.refworld.org/docid/60e2d0554.html