While birth registration rates are steadily improving worldwide, 150 million children remain ‘invisible’ – UNICEF
A new report underlines the progress made while highlighting disparities (particularly in sub-Saharan Africa) that continue to deprive millions of children of their legal status
NEW YORK, 11 December 2024 – More than 500 million children under the age of five (nearly eight in ten) have been registered at birth in the last five years, which is a sign of significant global progress in efforts to secure a legal identity, according to a new UNICEF report released today.
Released on UNICEF's 78th anniversary, the report, entitled The Right Start in Life: Global levels and trends in birth registration, 2024 update, provides the latest overview of the number of births registered since 2019. While the global birth registration rate is now 77 per cent, up from 75 per cent at the time, 150 million children under the age of five (approximately two in ten) have not been registered and remain invisible to government systems.
Furthermore, according to the report, more than 50 million children whose births have been registered do not have a birth certificate – a proof of registration that is essential for acquiring nationality, preventing statelessness and ensuring that children enjoy their rights from birth.
“Birth registration ensures children are immediately recognised under the law, providing a foundation for protection from harm and exploitation, as well as access to essential services like vaccines, healthcare, and education,” explains Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF. “As UNICEF marks 78 years of defending children's rights, we are delighted that millions more children now have a legal status, while calling for renewed efforts in this area to ensure that every child, everywhere, is registered at birth.”
The progress made globally is mainly due to the fact that many countries have made early birth registration a priority, leveraging health, social protection and education systems, increasing the number of civil registry offices, digitising procedures and eliminating related fees.
Progress and rates vary greatly across regions of sub-Saharan Africa. While Southern Africa leads the way with 88 per cent of births registered, West Africa has seen the greatest improvement in 15 years, with a rate now reaching 63 per cent. Eastern Africa and Central Africa, meanwhile, lag behind with rates of 41 per cent. Given the slow pace of progress and the rapid growth of the child population in sub-Saharan Africa (where the majority of the world's children will live in a few decades), if no change occurs, more than 100 million of them will run the risk of not being registered at birth from 2030.
In the case of Madagascar, the national birth registration rate has fallen sharply over the past decade, from 83 per cent in 2012[1] to 74 per cent in 2021[2]. Furthermore, there is a very wide disparity in birth registration between regions, ranging from 97 per cent in Analamanga to 42 per cent in Atsimo Andrefana, which creates an inequitable situation between different groups of children.
To ensure that every child is recognised and protected, UNICEF is also calling for the following key measures to be taken:
- Register every child at birth to lay the foundation for a life-cycle approach to legal status;
- Simplify formalities to improve service delivery and promote digital transformation;
- Leverage health, social protection and education programmes to strengthen birth registration;
- Implement the necessary legal reforms to make systems responsible for civil registration and vital statistics more inclusive and equitable.
In Madagascar, the situation regarding birth registration was the subject of a recommendation by the Committee on the Rights of the Child,[3] which advocated for the following measures: “Take steps to reverse the current downward trend in birth registrations in the country, including by allocating adequate resources for the implementation of the national strategic plan for civil registration and vital statistics and making concerted efforts, such as by enabling late and free of charge registration and increasing birth registration in areas with very low rates, especially in the region of Atsimo-Andrefana.”
[1] Enquête Démographique et de Santé, INSTAT.
[2] Enquête Nationale pour le Suivi des OMD, INSTAT.
[3] Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Madagascar, 9 March 2022 : article 20, “taking note of target 16.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals”, which aims to “by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration”.
