UNICEF: 150 Million Children Worldwide Unregistered in Civil Registries
According to an UNICEF report, approximately 150 million children under the age of five globally are not registered in civil registry systems. This leaves them without a legal identity or access to essential services such as education and healthcare.
However, in recent years, more than 500 million children under five have been registered in civil registries, marking progress compared to the latest figures from 2019.
This progress was partly driven by measures taken by some countries to expand health, social protection, and education systems to reach broader populations, through digital transformation or the removal of registration service fees.
Delays in Civil Registration of Children
According to the organization, Oceania, excluding Australia and New Zealand, is the most lagging region in this regard, with 74% of children under five unregistered.
Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa has 90 million unregistered children (49%), representing more than half of the global total of unregistered children under five.
These regions are followed by South and Central Asia (22% of unregistered children), North Africa and West Asia (14%), East and Southeast Asia (6%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (5%).
Protection from Exploitation
The report highlights that birth registration ensures immediate legal recognition for children, laying the foundation for their protection against exploitation and granting them access to essential services such as vaccinations, healthcare, and education.
However, many families face barriers in registering their children due to factors such as “gender, racial, or religious discrimination, long distances, lack of awareness about the process, or high fees.”
To improve this situation, the organization calls on countries to digitize registration systems, leverage health, social protection, and education programs to extend these services, implement key reforms, and empower communities to claim civil registration as a right.
