Preventing and Reducing Statelessness inside Syria The need for civil status documentation was identified as a major protection concern in Syria in 2015. Difficulties in acquiring and replacing civil status documentation are compromising freedom of movement and hindering civilians from reaching safer locations within or outside of Syria.22 The lack of civil status documentation also impedes access to services and employment, therefore limiting the capacity of families to cope with the consequences of the conflict. Reportedly, approximately half of the country’s hospitals are damaged or destroyed, leaving many women to give birth in dire conditions each day—often without access to the medical birth notification required by law to obtain a birth certificate.23 Syria has also witnessed the destruction of its physical civil registries, and civil registration services no longer function in several areas under the effective control of non-State actors. Improving access to civil status documentation has been shown to mitigate the other protection risks identified in the 2015 Protection Needs Overview. This includes helping to resolve family separation through improved civil status records of family composition, addressing child labour and recruitment through documenting the ages of children and strengthening the enjoyment of property rights by improving access to identity documents that are helpful in proving land tenure.24 Efforts to resolve documentation challenges are integrated into sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and response initiatives, as there is evidence that women who are SGBV survivors may find it more difficult to register new births.25 The lack of death and divorce certificates can also hinder the ability of widowed or divorced women to inherit property, legally remarry, or register children born through subsequent relationships. With at least 55 civil registry departments damaged and others severely under-capacitated and struggling to respond to increasing needs, UNHCR is working with the Ministry of the Interior on a technical support project to facilitate the issuance and replacement of civil status documentation. UNHCR is also emphasizing efforts to expand the capacity and reach of the health sector to help ensure that pregnant women can safely deliver with a skilled birth attendant and receive a medical birth notification for their newborn children. Between January and October 2015, health sector interventions ensured that over 157,000 births were delivered with the assistance of skilled birth attendants. Humanitarian partners are also supporting the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure including maternal healthcare centres. With Syrians identifying civil society support as an important resource in coping with protection challenges, UNHCR supports community-based interventions that include a network of 52 community-centers and 1,200 community outreach volunteers. By the end of 2016, UNHCR aims to increase this network to 80 community centres and 2,000 community outreach volunteers, and outreach capacity will be further complemented by adding mobile units to 18 community centres to reach remote areas. In Syria, and in exile abroad, civil status documentation serves as the foundation for enjoying an array of fundamental rights. Photo: UNHCR 22 See OHCHR, Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Mr. Chaloka Beyani, upon Conclusion of his Official Visit to the Syrian Arab Republic – 16 to 19 May, 2015, 19 May 2015, at: https://shar.es/1uszOm. 23 UNFPA, An Estimated 200,000 Pregnant Women in Syria in Need of Urgent Care, Warns UNFPA, 19 March 2014, at: http://www.unfpa.org/press/estimated-200000-pregnant-women-syria-need-urgent-care-warns-unfpa (estimating that in 2014 some 1,480 Syrian women gave birth in dire conditions each day). 24 See UNHCR, Protecting and Supporting the Displaced in Syria - UNHCR Syria End of Year Report 2015, February 2016, at: http://www.refworld.org/ docid/56cac3254.html (outlining the protection challenges linked to the lack of civil status documentation). See also UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview: Syria, at: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2016_hno_syrian_arab_ republic.pdf. 25 UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Birth Registration and Armed Conflict, 2007, at: http://www.unicef.org/protection/birth_registration_and_ armed_conflict%281%29.pdf. 12