“The adopted child of a Cameroonian may declare within six months before attaining his majority and in the manner prescribed by Sections 36 and following of this law, that he claims Cameroon nationality, provided that at the time of his declaration he has his domicile or residence in Cameroon.” Discrimination on grounds of disability 23. Of significant concern, is the discrimination on grounds of disability that applies in Cameroon. Contrary to the CRC and CRPD, Article 25 (e) states that “Cameroon nationality may not be conferred on a person (…) who has not been found to be of sound body and mind.” Deprivation of nationality 24. In addition, by allowing for the deprivation of nationality of a person “who is not of good character and morals, or has suffered conviction of an offence against ordinary law, not expunged by rehabilitation or amnesty” (article 25 (d)), the law fails to protect the children of such persons, who may not be able to access nationality through their affiliation. Birth registration 25. Law No. 2011/011 has harmonised the civil status registration process in Cameroon, notably with respect to the question of who has the ability to register births. Under article 7-1 of the law, authority to register births is given to the following categories of public servants: Government delegates to city councils and their assistants; Mayors and their assistants; Heads of diplomatic or consular missions and diplomats deputizing for them. The law also extended the time limit for the declaration of births and provided for sanctions for failure to register births (with penalties set forth in section 151 of the Penal Code (article 83-1)). While this represents progress towards implementing Cameroon’s obligations with regard to the registration of births some problems remain. 26. The current law on birth registration does not address the issue of costs pertaining to civil status registration for poor and vulnerable families and therefore fails to address one cause of the failure to register children from these families. Further, the law focuses on child birth in hospitals and does not provide for the registration of children delivered outside hospitals, which is still prevalent in most rural areas and some urban localities, due to the absence of sanitary institutions. 27. At present, statistics and data on birth registration are not systematically available, making it difficult to track progress in this area. The data that is available is collected by humanitarian agencies and only provides an approximate figures for birth registration rates. These figures are also not always up to date. They can, however, gives an indication of the level of birth registration and the groups or areas where birth registration is particularly low, particularly when considered alongside other indicators of the level of birth registration. The most recent data from UNICEF covers the years 2002-2012 and shows that birth registration in Cameroon stands at approximately 61.4%. However, there is a serious discrepancy between the rates of birth registration in urban (80.5%) and rural (47.6%) areas. 28. The 2011 law does not clarify the process of recognition of the child by the father, although article 34-1 requires information on the nationality of the mother and father to be included in the registration record. Article 41(2) states that: “Recognition and Legitimation, excepting adoptive legitimation, shall be based on blood relationship. Once the relationship has been established, no one may raise objection on the recognition”. The law does not, however, clarify the procedure for establishing the said “blood relationship”, leaving it solely in the discretion of the mother. 5