Exploring the Interface Between Birth Registration and Citizenship Determination: A Scoping Study in Seven Countries in Southern Africa Endnotes 1 UN Legal Identity Agenda, at: https://unstats.un.org/ legal-identity-agenda/ 2 The term “intertwining” is used here to illustrate how birth registration and citizenship determination have been interconnected without there necessarily being any due process or there having been a deliberate process that lead to the interconnecting of the two processes. 13 The Global Health Advocacy Incubator Guidance on Civil Registration, Citizenship Determination and Statelessness, November 2023 https://assets. advocacyincubator.org/uploads/team/2023/Briefing_CR_Citizenship_Statelessness.pdf 14 UNHCR Litigating the Right to a Nationality: A Guide for Practitioners November 2024 https://www.refworld.org/policy/polcomp/unhcr/2024/en/149069 15 https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/standmeth/principles/m19rev3en.pdf 3 “Citizenship” and ”nationality” are legally distinct concepts. Nationality is one’s legal belonging to a sovereign state, often tied to place of birth and/or the nationality of one’s parents, while citizenship is the legal status of having full rights and duties within that state, such as voting and holding office. However, these terms are used interchangeably in common parlance. Therefore, in this document, we use the term “citizenship”, which is the more commonly used term. 16 See Implementation of the United Nations Legal identity Agenda, United Nations Country Team Operational Guidelines (May 2020), paragraphs 22, 62. 17 United Nations, Guidelines on the Legislative Framework for Civil Registration, Vital Statistics, and Identity Management Systems, (hereinafter UN GOLF), at paragraph 63. 18 Asia-pacific regional workshop on implementing guidance on inclusive CRVS systems with a focus on forced displacement, statelessness and children on the move, pages 10-11, at: https://getinthepicture. org/resource/crvs-inclusivity-report-workshop-inclusive-crvs-systems-focus-forced-displacement 4 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights 5 Convention on the right of the child, https://www. ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child 19 UN GOLF, paragraphs 63-66 20 UN GOLF, paragraph 434 6 https://au.int/en/treaties/protocol-african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights-relating-specific-aspects-right 7 21 ID4D Building Statelessness-Sensitive ID Systems, World Bank, 2026, page 14, at: https://documents. worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/ documentdetail/099022626224014785 UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons, Geneva, 2014, paragraph 55. 22 UN Guidelines on the Legislative Framework for Civil Registration, Vital Statistics, and Identity Management, 2023 8 https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/ conventions/6_1_1961.pdf 9 The terms citizenship and nationality are used interchangeably in this report. 23 The Health Sector in Civil Registration: Options and methods to increase registration of live births, still births and deaths https://www.globalfinancingfacility.org/sites/default/files/Role-of-health-civil-registration.pdf 10 The “competent authority” is the entity empowered by law to undertake specified functions and responsibilities. In this case, the competent authority for birth registration is the entity designated in the civil registration law with that power and function. The competent authority for nationality is the authority responsible, by law, for conferring or withdrawing nationality from individuals, or for clarifying nationality status where nationality is acquired or withdrawn automatically. 24 UNHCR, Citizenship and Statelessness in the Member States of the Southern African Development Community, 2020 https://www.refworld.org/reference/research/unhcr/2020/en/123438 25 UNHCR, Citizenship and Statelessness in the Member States of the Southern African Development Community, 2020 https://www.refworld.org/ reference/research/unhcr/2020/en/123438; UNHCR Child Protection Issue Brief: Birth Registration, 2013 11 UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons, paragraphs 24-25. 12 UNHCR Litigating the Right to a Nationality: A Guide for Practitioners November 2024 https://www.refworld.org/policy/polcomp/unhcr/2024/en/149069 29