register of the current year; individuals then return to their local civil registrar for the information to be transcribed; once this is done, they can request to obtain a birth certificate copy from the local civil registrar. Needless to say this is a lengthy, costly, and discouraging procedure.121 Several reports describe numerous cultural obstacles that exist and hinder the proper functioning of civil status systems.122 An unpublished survey conducted by the Ivorian National Statistics Institute, with UNFPA, UNICEF, and UNHCR in 2013 of five regions in western Côte d’Ivoire123 that have the lowest rates of birth registration reveals some fascinating results, such as:      The judicial oversight foreseen in the Civil Status Law is not done in a systematic fashion. Only 70% of duplicate civil status registers are properly shared with local courts. 42.2% of births occur at home and not in health centers. Less than 45% knew that the act of declaring a child’s birth is free according to Ivorian law. 55% were aware of the three-month deadline by law to register births. 54% thought that only fathers can register births of their children, while only 35% properly identified that either parent is authorized to do so. 4.1.3. Ordinance facilitating registration of births and deaths from the crisis period A special presidential ordinance was passed in September 2011124 to facilitate the registration of births and deaths that occurred in Côte d’Ivoire during the political-military crisis, temporarily waiving the Civil Status Law’s three-month deadline to register births (Article 41) and 15-day time limit to register deaths, for births and deaths that took place in all central, northern and western zones under occupation from 20 September 2002 through 31 July 2011, and between 30 November 2010 and 31 July 2011 (the period of post-election violence) in all territories of Côte d’Ivoire. A law passed in 2013125 extended the opportunity to register these births through 31 July 2014. These legal measures relaxing the deadlines for birth registration during Côte d’Ivoire’s decade-long crisis represent an important initiative to rectify some of the consequences of the collapse of Côte d’Ivoire’s civil status system. According to statistics published in the yearbook on civil status produced by the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 901,512 births were registered between 2012 and 2014 pursuant to the special law.126 While promoting birth registration certainly contributes to efforts to prevent statelessness, birth registration can neither reduce statelessness on its own nor resolve the risks of statelessness, given the interlinkages between Côte d’Ivoire’s civil status, personal identification and nationality systems. 121 Details regarding current practice with respect to obtaining birth certificates for those who properly registered their births in localities with lost or destroyed civil status registers were gleaned from an interview with the Norwegian Refugee Council in Abidjan on 2 July 2014. There is no official study or statistics on how frequently this procedure is followed. 122 Aline Aka-Lamarche, Etude sur les Obstacles Administratifs et Culturels à la Déclaration des Faits d’Etat Civil en Côte d’Ivoire, Norwegian Refugee Council, March 2010. 123 INS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, Etude de base sur les Centres d’Etat-Civil et les connaissances, les Attitudes et les Pratiques des Populations des Régions de Gbeké, du Guémon, du Kabadougou, du Tonkpi, et du Worodougou en Matière d’Etat Civil, 2013, Unpublished report (on file with author). 124 Ordonnance No. 2011-258 du 28 septembre 2011 relative à l’enregistrement des naissances et des décès survenus durant la crise. This ordinance entered into force on 29 December 2011 and was valid until 30 July 2012. 125 Loi No. 2013-35 du 25 janvier 2013 portant modification de l’article 2 de l’Ordonnance No. 2011-258 du 28 septembre 2011 relative à l’enregistrement des naissances et des décès survenus durant la crise. 126 Direction des Etudes, de la Programmation et du Suivi-Evaluation, Ministère d’Etat, Ministère de l’Intérieure et de la Sécurité, Annuaire des Statistiques d’Etat Civil 2014, August 2016, p. 25 (on file with author). 37