A woman holds her infant in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in 2006. © UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi
In line with Action 7, Ensure birth registration
for the prevention of statelessness, on 1 July,
Turkmenistan’s new Law on Civil Status Acts
entered into force. The new provisions will ensure
that all children born in the country – including those
with undocumented parents – will have their births
registered. With this new law, Turkmenistan fulfils
one of its pledges submitted at the 2019 High-Level
Segment on Statelessness.
of ongoing armed conflict. The project will also be
implemented in border regions where a decision
of the International Court of Justice has resulted in
border demarcations following land disputes.
Furthermore on Action 7, UNHCR also supported
the Sudanese Directorate of Civil Registry in
resuming birth registration campaigns in a number of
states including South Darfur, North Darfur and West
Kordofan states. From August to September, a total
of 4,895 children born to refugees, IDPs, returnees
and host populations had their birth registered and
were issued birth certificates.
Also in line with Action 7, with support from UNHCR,
on 30 September the Government of Burkina Faso
issued late birth registration to 21,665 individuals
in the Center-North and Northern regions facing
conflicts and risks of statelessness. The General
Directorate for Modernization of Civil Status of
Burkina Faso and UNHCR also signed an agreement
to introduce electronic civil registration in 37
health centers to prevent statelessness, using the
iCivil platform. These health centers are located in
areas where civil registration and documentation
services are difficult to access, including as a result
Also on Action 7, in March the Jordanian
Government passed Defense Order No. 5
suspending deadlines for birth registration in
response to COVID-19. This allowed for the late
birth registration of children whose births could
not be registered during the lockdown. Late birth
registration fees were also waived.
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