An Operational Guide to Advancing Birth Registration through Schools

About

Every year, tens of millions of children remain invisible to the systems meant to protect them - unregistered at birth and therefore without the legal identity that opens the door to healthcare, protection, and education. Nearly 29% of children under age one worldwide (about 38 million) have not had their births registered, a figure that climbs to 55% in Sub-Saharan Africa. This operational guide makes the case that schools, often the first and most consistent point of contact between the state and a child, are an underused platform for closing this gap. It sets out how education systems can work alongside civil registration authorities not only to clear existing backlogs of unregistered children, but also to strengthen enrolment, retention, and learning outcomes along the way.

Drawing on case examples and proven models from countries around the world, the guide is organized around four pillars: using schools to register children already enrolled, reaching those who are out of school, moving toward full system integration between education and civil registration, and identifying the enablers - legal, digital, and institutional - that make school-based birth registration sustainable. It is intended as a practical resource for governments, UNICEF country offices, and partners working at the intersection of child rights, civil registration, and education. This report is also available in French and Spanish.

Published on 27 July 2026.