Every Child Counted – Advancing Birth Registration in Africa policy paper launched

Download the report here

 
Why birth registration matters

Birth registration is a fundamental human right that lays the foundation for accessing critical rights from childhood through adulthood. It ensures that every child is recognized by the state and can claim protection and services throughout life. Without birth registration, children remain invisible to systems meant to support them.

A global commitment was made under SDG 16.9 to provide legal identity for all. Yet, nearly half of all children under five in sub-Saharan Africa remain unregistered at birth.

With Africa expected to account for one-third of all global births by 2050 – achieving universal birth registration is both a rights imperative and a demographic necessity.

Disparities are seen across the continent and within regions.

Countries that have achieved over 90 per cent coverage include Algeria, Botswana, and Sierra Leone.

Regionally, in Southern Africa, coverage is recorded at 88 per cent, West Africa is at 63 per cent, and Eastern and Central Africa is at 41 per cent.

Progress will require strong political commitment, sustained domestic investment and effective collaboration across sectors and partners. UNICEF works together with governments, regional bodies, development partners, civil society, and the private sector to strengthen CRVS systems that leave no child unregistered. Through these efforts, countries can secure every child’s right to legal identity, strengthen governance, improve service delivery, and enable data-driven planning that benefits future generations.

As we mark 15 years of the APAI-CRVS, a regional programme developed following the political commitment and policy directives of the ministers in charge of civil registration to reform and improve CRVS systems in Africa, UNICEF, alongside partners, reaffirms the call for universal legal identity from birth. Civil registration is not just an administrative process; it is central to governance and essential to safeguarding the rights and futures of all children in Africa.

Africa has the tools, experience, and frameworks to achieve universal birth registration. What’s needed now is collective action, sustained investment, and system-wide reform to ensure every child is counted.

 
Key challenges to birth registration across the continent include

• Siloed planning across ministries.
• Limited local authority and resources.
• Poor readiness for digital tools including limited connectivity and low data reliability.
• Equity gaps that affect vulnerable populations, including social and gender-related barriers, and those living in humanitarian settings.
• Overreliance on pilots without scale-up strategies, owing to unclear mandates, lack of costed scale-up strategies and shifting donor priorities.
• Institutional instability and turnover.

 
How UNICEF is working with governments and partners to strengthen CRVS

UNICEF promotes three evidence-informed accelerator strategies:

1. Interoperability – Embedding birth registration into the wider public service ecosystem, such as health, education and social protection systems, making registration routine and accessible.
2. Decentralisation – Bringing services closer to communities.
3. Digitalisation – Using technology to streamline registration processes and expand access, including in hard-to-reach areas.

These accelerator strategies are delivered through support mechanisms such as:

• Integrated service delivery (e.g. registration at health facilities).
• Community engagement and awareness campaigns.
• Inter-ministerial coordination and legal reforms.
• Mobile outreach in remote and crisis-affected areas.
• Digital platforms with real-time data sharing.

 
UNICEF policy recommendations

For African governments: 

• Position CRVS as core governance infrastructure and a national priority.
• Adopt a whole-of-government approach, with coordination action across ministries.
• Ensure sustained public financing.
• Scale up proven strategies that have improved birth registration rates.
• Build resilient systems to ensure continuity during crises and emergencies, including displacement.

For pan-African institutions & partners: 

• Champion birth registration.
• Advocate for the elevation of CRVS as a political priority.
• Promote continental standards and guidelines to harmonize CRVS across Africa.
• Align all technical and financial support with national CRVS strategies and frameworks, ensuring coordination under government leadership.
• Strengthen international advocacy to secure high-level political commitment and sustained financial investment in CRVS.

Note to editors:

UNICEF spokespeople are available for interviews.