Burundian refugee and mother-of-three, Evangelina Bukuru, poses for a photograph with her mother and baby at their home in Nyarugusu refugee camp. Evangelina benefitted from a UNHCR initiative to secure Tanzanian birth certificates for her children to protect them against statelessness. © UNHCR/Anthony Karumba ACTION 7: Ensure birth registration for the prevention of statelessness DESIRED OUTCOME All children at a heightened risk of statelessness are registered at birth, with key barriers effectively addressed. Context 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. This is 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 nationality they can acquire. As a result, birth registration is important for achievement of the outcomes under Action 2. In some countries, children may not be registered because registration procedures are complex, because documentary and other requirements are difficult to fulfil, or because civil registration offices are not accessible to all due to distance and associated costs. Specific groups may face particular problems, especially children born out of wedlock (including as a result of gender-based violence), nomadic populations and children of non-citizens, including refugees and migrants. Proof that parents are married can also influence 26 whether a child can be registered at birth and whether it acquires a nationality; many civil laws either exclude women from being able to register the births of their own children in all situations, or permit them to do so only under exceptional circumstances. Low levels of birth registration can be difficult to correct subsequently, either because procedures for delayed birth registration have not been established or because they are lengthy, costly and complex and therefore inaccessible. Because nationality is generally acquired on the basis of each State’s nationality law, lack of birth registration on its own does not usually make people stateless. UNHCR will continue to work with UNICEF and other partners to gather more data on gaps in law and policy relating to birth registration that create heightened risks of statelessness (also relevant under Action 10). GLOBAL ACTION PLAN TO END STATELESSNESS 2.0