CITIZENSHIP AND STATELESSNESS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA \Y deaths was prepared in 2019 and is under discussion. Efforts have been made to link health posts with the civil registration authorities at the municipality, and birth registration rates are higher than in the rest of Somalia; nonetheless, less than 20 percent of under-fives are currently registered.'*8 International law requires that Somaliland civil registration documents be recognised by other countries (for example, in case they are needed to prove a right to the nationality of that country), even if the other state does not recognise the sovereignty of Somaliland.'9 Table 9: Birth registration rates Country % birth registration children <5 Source Djibouti 93 - MICS2006 Eritrea - - Ethiopia 16 * - UNICEF (unpub) Somalia 3 - MICS2006 - No information available BR: birth registration reported BC: birth certificate held by family MICS: Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (http://mics.unicef.org/surveys) * 3 percent in DHS2016 (https://dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/Country-List.cfm) National identity cards and passports In many countries, a national identity card is the principal document that is used to provide proof of nationality in day-to-day situations — even if (as is common) the law also states that a national identity card is not formal legal proof of that status. A passport is required for international travel. By contrast to birth registration and civil registration generally, there is limited international guidance on the issue of national identity documents and passports. However, the UN Convention relating to the Refugees and the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement — as well as the OAU Status of Conventions on refugees and IDPs — provide for the issue of identity documents to the forcibly displaced.'*° Action 8 of UNHCR’s Global Action Plan to End Statelessness is to issue nationality documentation to those with entitlement to it. 448 Interview UNICEF Hargeisa, March 2021. 149 In an advisory opinion on the legal status of the South African administration of Namibia the International Court of Justice affirmed that civil registration certificates should be recognised by other states as valid, even if the status of the authority issuing the document is challenged. See Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970): 1971 IC/ Reports 16, para 125. For a discussion of somewhat similar issues in the context of Western Sahara, see Bronwen Manby, ‘Nationality and Statelessness Among Persons of Western Saharan Origin’, Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law 34, no. 1 (2020): 9-29. ‘288, 45° UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, art. 27; OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, 1969, art 6; UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 1998, principle 20; AU Convention for the Protection & Assistance of IDPs in Africa, 2009, art. 13; see also Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, 2018, para. 20{c). 40 UNHCR — December 2021