Registering and Documenting Each Syrian Refugee Child In Iraq, UNHCR is prioritising birth registration for all children of concern, including those who are refugees, IDPs or conflict-affected. In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I), the authorities have adopted flexible birth registration procedures, which include accepting UNHCR certificates as evidence of parental identity and marital status for families that lack Syrian identity documentation, marriage certificates, or Family Booklets. These initiatives, together with legal aid and counselling, have raised the Syrian refugee birth registration rate from 30 per cent in 2012 to 73 per cent in 2015. Furthermore, UNHCR’s advocacy with the authorities led to all Syrian refugee children above 12 years old being provided with identity and residency documents. In Egypt, the vast majority of Syrian refugee children born in the country have been successfully registered at birth under the current legal and administrative framework. UNHCR provides counseling on procedures for all families with newborn children underscoring the importance of early intervention to avoid complications. Strengthening Legal Aid and Counselling Legal aid and counselling on birth and marriage registration have been established in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, with each operation tailoring their response to address the specific challenges seen in their respective context. In Lebanon, for instance, UNHCR reception centres are used as an important entry point to address challenges related to limited freedom of movement and difficulty accessing legal services. A joint procedure at the reception centres has been established between UNHCR and Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs to support Syrian families with obtaining birth certificates when they approach UNHCR to update their files following new births. The parents receive individual counseling on civil birth registration procedures from the relevant government authorities, UNHCR and partners, and are immediately referred to legal aid providers for any assistance that may be needed. In the first half of 2016, 14,100 persons received counseling on birth registration and 3,626 persons received direct legal assistance in completing birth registration procedures. In Egypt, UNHCR supports legal aid for refugees to help them complete birth registration procedures, especially in more complex cases, and has commissioned research on the accessibility of birth registration to identify opportunities to resolve gaps and challenges. UNHCR has also finalized a new leaflet on birth registration that encourages refugees to contact the Office at least three months prior to the expected delivery to allow for early legal counselling. This allows UNHCR’s legal partners to intervene early on in cases where refugee families lack the prerequisite documentation to ensure births can still be registered on time, thus removing the need to go through the more complicated procedures associated with late birth registrations. UNHCR’s interventions, including legal counselling and representation in particular, have achieved a 92.2 birth registration rate for Syrian refugee children over the last 12 months (from June 2015 to June 2016). In Jordan, approximately 26,000 families have received legal counselling and assistance with obtaining the civil status documentation they need—with 51 per cent more cases assisted in 2015 than the prior year. In Turkey, UNHCR and its partners have reached nearly 1 million Syrian refugees on civil registration through counselling sessions provided at community centres, UNHCR field offices, and through information leaflets. In Iraq, UNHCR supports legal aid partners to help refugees obtain certificates of marriage, birth, divorce and death as well as residency permits as a core protection function. Engaging with Communities as Agents of Protection and Change The 3RP is grounded in the recognition that refugees bring critical skills, capacities and knowledge to the challenges of serving their communities. UNHCR supports Refugee Outreach Volunteers in counselling and accompanying new mothers to hospital and civil registration offices. Religious courts and leaders counsel refugees on the importance of following official birth and marriage registration procedures, while also seeking to deter early marriage–a protection issue which can also impede the registration of any subsequent births. 17