Under this major goal, there are 12 targets, the 16.9 of which is “By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including free birth registrations.”

●Current Situation

The World

1 in 4 children under the age of 5 do not officially exist

Society first acknowledges a child’s existence and identity through birth registration. The right to be recognized as a person before the law is a critical step in ensuring lifelong protection and is a prerequisite for exercising all other rights. Yet the births of one fourth of children under age 5 worldwide have never been officially recorded.

Functioning civil registration systems are the main vehicles through which a legal identity for all – and target 16.9 – can be achieved. Such systems produce vital statistics, including those on birth registration, which are foundational for achieving sustained human and economic development. While most countries have mechanisms in place for registering births, systematic recording remains a serious challenge, highlighting the urgent need to improve and strengthen civil registration and vital statistics.

Large differences can be found in the coverage of birth registration among regions. Western Europe and North America have the highest levels of birth registration, with fully 100% of children under 5 registered. This is followed by Eastern Europe and Central Asia, at 99%, and Latin America and the Caribbean, at 95%.

The lowest levels of birth registration are found in Eastern and Southern Africa (41%). In sub-Saharan Africa, only just over half (51%) of children are registered by their fifth birthday, while the level in West and Central Africa is slightly higher, at 59%.

Source：UNICEF

China

Restrictions on childbirth and birth registration reduced

In July 2021, the “Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for Optimizing the Birth Policies and Promoting Long-term Balanced Population Development” was announced, allowing a couple to have three children, canceling social compensation fees, and fully decoupling household registration, school entrance, and employment from personal fertility status. In August 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the decision on amending the Population and Family Planning Law, which guarantees the rule of law for a couple to have three children. This amendment removed the provisions on paying social support fees and related penalties, relieving many people’s worries.

Source: gov.cn, cctv.com, Nanfang Daily

The World

U.S. has various types of birth registration, while company benefits indirectly promote birth registration

In the United States, there are specific requirements for registering newborns for both unmarried and married births. For example, in New York, parents receive a free birth certificate for newborns about four weeks after birth. If the child was born to unmarried parents and either conceived naturally or using assisted reproduction, then paternity or parentage is needed to establish parental rights and the legal obligation to support the child. An Acknowledgment of Parentage is a document that unmarried parents must both sign voluntarily to establish the child’s legal father/parent. Certified copies of an Acknowledgment of Parentage are free of charge. After completing the New York State Acknowledgment of Parentage application, parents should submit by mail or in person.

Companies provide birth benefits, indirectly promoting birth registration. Parental leave programs at companies such as Google, Amazon, and Nvidia enable biological parents to take paid leave and indirectly support birth registration policies.

Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Google, Amazon, Nvidia

Toybox helps street children with birth registration

Toybox supports children in street situations - and often their family members - to register their births and access their birth certificates. This is a critical foundation for them to claim their right to a name, a nationality, and state supported services, and start making steps towards a safer life away from the streets. Their partners include John Lewis, Kingdom Coffee, Pink Sun and The Entertainer, among others.

There are numerous barriers that families must overcome to register their children:

1. Many people do not have access to registration facilities.

2. Lack of knowledge or understanding of the benefits and process of registration.

3. The high fees associated with registration are often prohibitive.

4. Traditional customs, beliefs and practices may not encourage the formal registration process.

5. Formal in law or informal by practice may impose restrictions, such as women being able to register their child without the father attending.

6. Those born in rural areas are 30% less likely to be registered than those in urban areas – wealth in urban areas increases the likelihood of registration.

Toybox works in two areas: improving registration services and raising awareness. Today they not only focus on the practical action of obtaining birth certificates and official identity documents for street children, but also work with governments and members of civil society organizations to improve civil registration services through training and the use of appropriate technology. They work hard to raise awareness in those countries they work in though running campaigns to raise awareness in communities of the importance of registering births via various channels including TV and radio advertising, press articles and the offer of training to those organizations involved.

In 2023, they supported 2,335 children, young people and adults from Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Kenya and Nepal to access their birth certificates or legal identity documents. In the first three months of 2024, 445 children were supported to receive their birth certificates through six registration days held in different towns and villages by CONACMI, one of Toybox’s partners in Guatemala.

China

Simplification and efficiency improvement of birth registration process

Restrictions on birth registration in various regions in China have been loosened. For example, marriage is no longer a prerequisite for birth registration, and unmarried births can go through birth registration. The birth registration process and documents are simplified, and people only need to provide their ID card or household registration booklet for registration.

The Measures for the Administration of Birth Registration of the Health Commission of Guangdong Province has changed the “birth registration proof” to “birth registration certificate” and clarified that the birth registration certificate is a certificate issued by the handling agency when handling the birth registration for the registrant, and shall not be used as the basis for whether the relevant birth behavior complies with the Regulations of Population and Family Planning of Guangdong Province, emphasizing the neutrality and objectivity of birth registration, which only serves as a means of population monitoring, rather than a tool to restrict the birth of citizens.

Source: People’s Daily Online, sznews.com

To boost efforts to encourage childbirth, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will provide a one-off cash allowance of HK$20,000 as financial incentive to eligible parents for each baby born on or after October 25, 2023, in Hong Kong. The initiative will be implemented for a period of three years. Starting from October 25, 2023, when registering births and applying for birth certificates, parents can at the same time submit application for the Newborn Baby Bonus.

Source: Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

●Background

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiated by the United Nations

On January 1, 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including 169 targets, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. Countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.