Launch of UNICEF Reports on Birth Registration: Main Findings and Programmatic I mplications

1. Launch of UNICEF Reports on Birth Registration: Main Findings and Programmatic Implications 12 December 2013

3. Birth registration must be within the civil registry • A birth can only be registered by this authority. Ideally this is a national authority or, if not, there is a mechanism to ensure national coordination • Some countries do outsource some aspects of the civil registry. Even in these cases the oversight of the function rests with the government.

4. Birth certificate Is the vital record that documents the birth of a child. It should contain the minimum information. The base material should be a security substrate image using secure printing techniques and a unique identifier.

5. Birth registration must be continuous, permanent and available • The civil registration records must be kept forever. This requires that the records need to be retrievable and that that registrar is accessible. • Information technology is part of the solution being a step forward from paper files.

6. Where we stand today

7. Some numbers • The births of nearly 230 million children under five have never been registered • More than half of these unregistered children live in Asia and around one in three in India • In 2012 alone, 57 million births were not registered with civil authorities – or 4 out of 10 babies delivered worldwide • Additionally, 1 in 7 of the registered children do not have a birth certificate • As results there are 290 million children under five without a birth certificate in the world Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

8. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

9. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

10. Global and Regional Initiatives

11. National Initiatives - Parliamentarians • Lawmaking – Adopt legislation that advances universal, free, and timely birth registration • Budgeting – Ensure that birth registration systems are properly resourced and that budget earmarks for civil/birth registration systems are spent properly • Oversight – Oversee and scrutinize government (executive branch performance) with respect to its commitments to implement national birth registration policies and commitments; monitor progress against targets and benchmarks • Representation – Serve as community leaders that inform constituents about their rights to identity and available programmes; communicate constituent concerns to relevant government ministries and implementing partners

12. A country can achieve a high birth registration rate even with low per capita income Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

13. Many mothers lack knowledge of how to register a child’s birth Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

14. Stages of Behaviour Change -- A simple model Pre-Contemplation Contemplation Decision (Ready-to-Act) Perceives risks and knows about benefits Doesn’t know completely but has heard Doesn’t know about problem, hasn’t thought about the issue Maintenance Action Continues behaviour over short-term, or relapses Tries out the information or behaviour, implements specific actions Becomes a promoter or advocate

15. Why using C4D for CRVS? • To strengthen the identification and analysis of who is being left out and why • To analyse both the technical and inter-personal capability of frontline workers • To build a broad coalition of partners to develop and implement advocacy, social mobilisation and communication strategies for CR

16. Why using C4D for CRVS? • To involve stakeholders, particularly communities and families, in the programme cycle from situation analysis and strategy development to monitoring and evaluating interventions. • To develop appropriate evidence based and theory-driven strategies, techniques and messages for knowledge building and fostering positive change in attitudes, behaviours and social norms • To mobilize communities! Others?

17. The children left behind

18. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

19. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

20. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

21. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

22. Children are more likely to be registered as they grow older

23. Birth registration must be timely and accurate • The information in the registration has implications for other obligations and rights for the child, as they become adults and for their children. • Completing the registration as soon as possible increases the probability of a precise recording of the event. • Digital and mobile technology can be useful to notify the registrar about a birth and in some instances to facilitate the completion of the registration process.

24. Birth registration must be free To ensure that no one is hindered from realizing this right, whether for regular, delayed or late registration. It is recommended that the birth certificate is also free.

25. Birth registration must be universal and confidential All people who are born in the country must be able to be registered without prejudice Access to the information in the registry must be strictly controlled, noting in particular that some information is highly sensitive and person and could be misused.

26. Birth registration may be compulsory Birth registration may be compulsory but only if the other characteristics of well functioning birth registration have been firmly established. In other words only if it is: • Within the civil registry • Free • Continuous, permanent and available • Universal in coverage • Confidential • Timely and accurate

27. Progress and prospects

28. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

29. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

30. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

31. Source: Every Child’s Birth Right: Inequities and trends in birth registration, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

32. 8 Steps for the Situation Analysis

33. Programming for birth registration • Organisational change • Legal change • Stimulating demand • Communication for development • Building coalitions and strengthening collaboration

34. ICT and Innovations • ITC and in particular SMS technology offer potential for increasing birth registration rates. • UNICEF has been a pioneer in the use of mobile phones for birth and death registration, for example in Vanuatu, with technical support from the civil registration service of New Zealand. • It is essential that ITC solutions are secure, and also ‘open source’, and that they respond to a genuine need, rather than being driven by service providers.

35. IT and Birth Registration in Uganda • With support from UNICEF, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), is developing a BDR (Birth Death Registration) policy to create an enabling environment; is Implementing a Mobile Vital Records System (Mobile VRS) that was developed through a public private partnership, to improve timely delivery of BDR services in hospitals and local governments. • Mobile VRS enables the use of internet connected computers in hospitals and local governments to register births as well as the use of mobile phones in communities to send birth notifications from any part of Uganda into the central government Civil Registration database, in real time. Mobile VRS generates real time reports of birth registered by sex, by geographical location and within a given time frame selected by the user. • Since September 2011, a total of 1,486,344 persons have been registered.

36. Acknowledgements Nicole Petrowski Colleen Murray Yadigar Coskun Ivana BjelicLois Jensen CecilieModvar UNHCR (Monika Sandvik-Nylund, Mark Manly and  JorunnBrandvoll) UNSD (Haoyi Chen and SrdjanMrkic) IADB (Mia Harbitz) UNECA (RajGautam Mitra) INTERPOL (Jamil Darwish) CRC4D (GopalanBalagopal, Jaap van der Straaten, Rina Gill, Patricia Ray) … and numerous colleagues in UNICEF regional and country offices. Thanks!