by Cornelius Williams, Regional Adviser, Child Protection, UNICEF Regional Office, Nairobi

1. Accelerating Birth Registration in AfricaLearning from each other: country experiences in registering births of children by Cornelius Williams, Regional Adviser, Child Protection, UNICEF Regional Office, Nairobi

2. Levels of birth registration in Africa

3. Income levels and registration rates • No correlation between income and registration levels: • Togo; Comoros; Madagascar, Burundi – High registration levels with relatively low GDPs • Botswana, Swaziland – higher GDPs, but lower levels of registration.

4. However, • Statistical analysis show that children under five whose births have not been registered, tend to: • be poor, live in rural areas, have limited access to health care, • are not attending early childhood education, have higher levels of malnutrition and • have higher mortality rates • Most countries show that birth registration is highest among the richest 20% of population.

5. Globally, • Around 51 million children born in 2007 have not had their births registered. • One in four developing countries have less than half of the births of children registered • Two out of three children in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia not registered • In some countries – disparities growing in registration between rich and poor; urban/rural areas; minority groups

6. To Recap, Birth Registration is… • State’s first acknowledgement of a child’s existence. • Claim to privileges and services – health, education, access to social assistance; family tracing; inheritance • Protection from • Trafficking; Early marriage; Premature enlistment in armed forces • Child labour; Criminal prosecution as an adult • Provides accurate data for planning • At national and local levels.

7. Key mandates • Convention on the Rights of the Child • Article 7 • African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child • Article 6 • Call for Accelerated Action on the Implementation of the Plan of Action Towards Africa fit for Children (2008-2112 • Priority Action 7 (a)

8. African initiatives • Kampala meeting in 2002 of 10 Anglophone Countries; • September 2005, 21 countries (UNICEF and PLAN) • African Day of the Child, 2003 – theme of Birth Registration. • Dakar meeting of 23 Countries of West and Central Africa in 2004 (UNICEF and PLAN) • Lusophone meeting Angola, 2005 • “For children to count they must be counted,”- Harry Belafonte, Dakar, 23rd Feb, 2004

9. No registration Weak system Nobenefits Nodemand Vicious cycle in birth registration…

10. Government achievements in just one year - 2009 • Legal reforms: Malawi; Uganda; DRC. • Policy and strategy strengthening: Swaziland and DRC • Capacity building & community awareness raising: Cote D’Ivoire and Angola • Integration with health services: Sudan, Namibia, Madagascar • Integration with education: Comoros, Madagascar, Swaziland

11. In Conclusion • Strong mandate from the African Charter, the Call for Accelerated Action and the CRC for action towards Universal Birth Registration • Evidence from countries in Africa on how progress is possible even with limited resources • Opportunity to make a strong push to achieve Universal Birth Registration with the focus on reaching the Millennium Development Goals in 2015

12. “An effective system of birth registration is fundamental not only to the fulfillment of child rights but also the rational operation of a humane government in the modern world” - Justice Unity Dow, in UNICEF “Progress of Nations, 1998”.