Exploring the Interface Between Birth Registration and Citizenship Determination: A Scoping Study in Seven Countries in Southern Africa Windhoek, Namibia. Photo Credit: Wandel Guides / Shutterstock.com 1. Introduction The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed by all United Nations Member States in September 2015, established a specific target: Target 16.9, “legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030.” SDG Target 16.9 recognizes that birth registration is the foundation for legal identity.1 Registering children at birth is the first step in securing legal identity and their recognition before the law, and a crucial measure for the prevention of statelessness. Individuals can be at risk of statelessness if they have difficulties proving that they have links to a state. Lack of birth registration can create such a risk because birth registration attests to where a person was born and who their parents are—key pieces of information needed to establish which country’s citizenship they are eligible for or can acquire. While recording this information is essential, deciding a child’s citizenship during the birth registration process without legal authority, proper training, transparency, or legal recourse can lead to improper citizenship determinations, including an incorrect or “undetermined” designation, which carries a risk of statelessness for the child. It is a generally accepted notion that birth registration and citizenship determination are separate legal processes. While most children acquire citizenship at the time of birth by operation of law (meaning citizenship is acquired automatically), traditionally, citizenship was affirmed later in life; for example, when applying for a national ID card or passport, or registering to vote. Unlike birth registration, enrollment in these identity systems is often limited to citizens, therefore, formal legal processes have been developed to vet and determine citizenship as part of the processes to enter such systems. This is particularly true for voter registration and passport issuance. While countries may offer an identity card to all legal 5